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How to use a MAC for connecting through the console port ?

riveron08
Level 1
Level 1

I have a MAc book air with OS x 10.7.5,

I bought the adapter usb to serial port, but the drivers that come with it are for Windos , I am stuck .

No idea what to do for using the mack for connect to the console port of my cisco labs routers.

Please any idea of what to do would be graet .

Thanks

3 Accepted Solutions

Accepted Solutions

John Blakley
VIP Alumni
VIP Alumni

You'll need to get a usb-serial adapter and then connect with a console cable. Adapters aren't very expensive.

Connecting to the Console Port with Mac OS X
To connect a Mac OS X system USB port to the console using the built-in OS X Terminal utility, follow these steps:
Step 1 Use the Finder to go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

Step 2 Connect the OS X USB port to the router.

Step 3 Enter the following commands to find the OS X USB port number:

macbook:user$ cd /dev
macbook:user$ ls -ltr /dev/*usb*
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 66 Apr 1 16:46 tty.usbmodem1a21
DT-macbook:dev user$
Step 4 Connect to the USB port with the following command followed by the router USB port speed:

macbook:user$ screen /dev/tty.usbmodem1a21 9600
To Disconnect the OS X USB Console from the Terminal Window
Enter Ctrl+A followed by Ctrl+\

Hth,
John

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

HTH, John *** Please rate all useful posts ***

View solution in original post

There are a couple other things that can be tried. Connect the usb cable to your laptop, and then drop to terminal and type this:

ls /dev/tty*

Find the device that's associated to your usb port. Then use screen to that:

screen /dev/tty-xxxx

If that doesn't work try this:

ioreg -c IOSerialBSDClient  | grep usb

If it comes back with something, find the IOSerialCallOutDevice and screen to that:

screen /dev/cu.usbserial

HTH,
John

*** Please rate all useful posts ***

HTH, John *** Please rate all useful posts ***

View solution in original post

ckent0001
Level 1
Level 1

There's a new Mac app called Serial available on the App Store. Full disclosure- I wrote it. We got tired of having to find and install drivers for different serial adapters and devices we have here in order to administer Cisco switches, so we wrote our own terminal that uses its own built-in drivers for the most common chipsets available. There's a free demo available.

Also, as of Mac OS X 10.9, Apple began shipping their own FTDI driver. So, if you're using a USB-serial adapter that uses the FTDI chipset (many of the higher-end adapters do), you don't need to worry about installing drivers and can use the built-in screen command in the Terminal to access serial ports.

View solution in original post

21 Replies 21

John Blakley
VIP Alumni
VIP Alumni

You'll need to get a usb-serial adapter and then connect with a console cable. Adapters aren't very expensive.

Connecting to the Console Port with Mac OS X
To connect a Mac OS X system USB port to the console using the built-in OS X Terminal utility, follow these steps:
Step 1 Use the Finder to go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

Step 2 Connect the OS X USB port to the router.

Step 3 Enter the following commands to find the OS X USB port number:

macbook:user$ cd /dev
macbook:user$ ls -ltr /dev/*usb*
crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 66 Apr 1 16:46 tty.usbmodem1a21
DT-macbook:dev user$
Step 4 Connect to the USB port with the following command followed by the router USB port speed:

macbook:user$ screen /dev/tty.usbmodem1a21 9600
To Disconnect the OS X USB Console from the Terminal Window
Enter Ctrl+A followed by Ctrl+\

Hth,
John

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

HTH, John *** Please rate all useful posts ***

Thank you for your time answering my question , I appreciate it .

Let me try it.

What I am making wrong ?

Last login: Tue Jan 21 21:49:18 on ttys001

Ernestos-MacBook-Air:~ riveron08$ cd /dev

Ernestos-MacBook-Air:dev riveron08$ ls -ltr /dev/*usb*

ls: /dev/*usb*: No such file or directory

Ernestos-MacBook-Air:dev riveron08$ crw-rw-rw- 1 root wheel 9, 66 Apr 1 16:46 tty.usbmodem1a21

-bash: crw-rw-rw-: command not found

Ernestos-MacBook-Air:dev riveron08$ DT-macbook:dev user$

-bash: DT-macbook:dev: command not found

Ernestos-MacBook-Air:dev riveron08$

I found this in my MAC in about my MAC

USB-Serial Controller D:

Product ID:          0x2303

Vendor ID:          0x067b  (Prolific Technology, Inc.)

Version:           4.00

Speed:          Up to 12 Mb/sec

Manufacturer:          Prolific Technology Inc.

Location ID:          0xfd110000 / 3

Current Available (mA):          500

Current Required (mA):          100

There are a couple other things that can be tried. Connect the usb cable to your laptop, and then drop to terminal and type this:

ls /dev/tty*

Find the device that's associated to your usb port. Then use screen to that:

screen /dev/tty-xxxx

If that doesn't work try this:

ioreg -c IOSerialBSDClient  | grep usb

If it comes back with something, find the IOSerialCallOutDevice and screen to that:

screen /dev/cu.usbserial

HTH,
John

*** Please rate all useful posts ***

HTH, John *** Please rate all useful posts ***

Hi

Whilst I am using the Serial app successfully, I would still like to understand how one could connect with the min-USB cable without paying $30. It is not a lot of money, to be sure, but it is a barrier to adoption, which is a shame.

I am using El Capitan 10.11.3. None of the options for finding a device I can use the "screen" command with are working for me.

Many thanks

Nathan

Thank you John. Although my terminal command use knowledge is limited, your first two terminal commands in this post clued me into what I needed to do. thank you.

Albert

John,

 

I tried a lot of suggestions before yours. Lets just say I don't need to try anymore. Thank you.

The "screen" command worked for me as well after I stopped trying to copy and paste the name of the port!

Have you installed a driver for the Prolific 2303 chipset on the serial-USB adapter?

http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=229&pcid=41

Thank you so much..Up and running! So long third party software....

 

hi,

hope someone still answer my question, i have installed the drivers and was able to see the the tty.usb from my mac terminal, i can also connect properly. My problem is that when i issue a command through console, it freeze up after a few lines of output. It will not let me continue and i have to exit "screen" and run it to gain access. Even if i use other terminal application, results are the same.

Am i missing something or do i have to configure something on my terminal app?

TIA for those who will answer.

Hello! Your solution works great, except Mac went to some kind of BSOD, after unpluging usb-to-com adapter. 

New to MAC and found this post helpful. Thank you
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