Serial connection problems

[PUDarkmatters]

I'm trying to use SecureCRT to check if a serial connection is functional, but I'm honestly not entirely certain what I'm doing. Can anyone shed some light on what's going on? I try to connect and I get a cursor that doesn't let me input anything. Trace is shown below:

SecureCRT - Version 6.2.3 (x64 build 313)
[SERIAL-TRACE] : Starting I/O thread 8240
[SERIAL-TRACE] : Open serial port[\\.\COM5] ==> Handle[1632]
[SERIAL-TRACE] : SERIAL-CONFIG: BAUD-RATE=57600
[SERIAL-TRACE] : SERIAL-CONFIG: PARITY=none
[SERIAL-TRACE] : SERIAL-CONFIG: STOP-BITS=1
[SERIAL-TRACE] : SERIAL-CONFIG: DATA-BITS=8
[SERIAL-TRACE] : SERIAL-CONFIG: DSR-OUTPUT-FLOW-HONORED=no
[SERIAL-TRACE] : SERIAL-CONFIG: DTR-CONTROL=enable/high/on
[SERIAL-TRACE] : SERIAL-CONFIG: CTS-OUTPUT-FLOW-HONORED=no
[SERIAL-TRACE] : SERIAL-CONFIG: RTS-CONTROL=enable/high/on
[SERIAL-TRACE] : Duplicate handle[1632] --> New handle[1612]
[SERIAL-TRACE] : Comm State [CTS-OFF]
[SERIAL-TRACE] : Comm State [DSR-OFF]
[SERIAL-TRACE] : Comm State [RING-OFF]
[SERIAL-TRACE] : Comm State [RLSD-OFF]
[SERIAL-TRACE] : Close Handle[1632]

[bgagnon]

Hello PUDarkmatters,

What operating system is SecureCRT installed on?

Are you sure the serial parameters configured match the device you are trying to communicate with?

Two common issues with serial connections are:

• Mismatched baud rate
  
  
• Mismatched flow control

[PUDarkmatters]

I'm using SecureCRT on a Windows7 64-bit, and have checked all serial configuration parameters with both the manufacturer and their manual. They checked out.

[bgagnon]

Hi PUDarkmatters,

Have you tried with the current release, v7.2.4?

If you want to install it for evaluation and keep your older version separate, choose Custom from the Setup Type dialog during the install and specify a separate installation path.

[PUDarkmatters]

Hmmm. I'm not sure how to quote someone on these forums.

bgagnon: Unfortunately I cannot switch versions. I'm using software provided by and chosen by the Purdue IT department, and I don't have the budget or permission to upgrade my version independently of theirs.

[bgagnon]

Hi PUDarkmatters,

It's not important, but you should have a conversation bubble icon in the toolbar, that's what you can use for quoting. The actual tags are QUOTE and /QUOTE (enclosed in square brackets []).

OK, that's understandable about the version.

Can you successfully connect (via serial protocol) to this same device with any other application?

If so, please recheck the configured parameters in use in the other application.

The behavior does still seem indicative of either mismatched flow control or baud rate.

Also, the device might not be echoing characters sent by SecureCRT. Try turning on local echo (Terminal / Emulation / Advanced category of Session Options) which will enable SecureCRT to display characters you type in, if the device is not echoing characters back to SecureCRT.

[PUDarkmatters]

Can you successfully connect to this device [...] with any other application?

No, I cannot. As I write this, there's actually some question as to whether or not Windows can even recognize there is a device plugged in. The manufacturer responded yesterday suggesting there may be a physical layer problem due to their 'unique method of combining RS-232 and -485 signals'.

SecureCRT is in fact logging the characters, which is fantastic.

[bgagnon]

Hi PUDarkmatters,

SecureCRT is in fact logging the characters, which is fantastic.

I am not sure what you mean by the above.

Are you talking about the results after enabling local echo?

Or are you logging the session (and still see nothing in the terminal window)?

In either case, if true, it would seem Windows does recognize there is a device plugged in.