Robert's Gadget Zone

Sometimes it is the simplest of things that really make my day. And what is really cool is where something simple is solved in a really complex way and made to appear simple! Almost like magic in fact!!

The Problem

I have a serial device next to me connected to the comm port of my Windows PC. Let's make it connected through a serial-usb adapter just to make things complicated. Next; I am developing an application on a remote virtual (vmware ) linux machine which needs to communicate with the small serial device next to me!

Problem 1. I have no direct access to the virtual machine in order to take my serial device and plug it into the virtual machine's host.
Problem 2. Even if I could have my little serial device plugged into my remote virtual machine's host I would no longer be able to interact with it during development work.

The simple solution would be to have my little serial device magically connected to my remote virtual machine and still be sitting next to me and my Windows PC.
Note my use of the word 'simple'; simple in description but not so in solution.

The Outcome

When a problem has been nagging to the point of being insufferable it is amazing how a little action, imagination and perseverance can produce magic.
With the help of two little tools; 'tcp2com

pm' and 'socat'; I am now able to enjoy the convenience of having my little serial device plugged into my Windows PC and being plugged into my remote virtual linux machine at the same time ... simply magic!

The Solution

I am not going to recount chapter and verse on how I made this magic happen. I don't want to make it easy for anyone else. So here is an incredibly terse, dot-point-list of actions I took:

On the Windows PC, install 'COM2TCPInstall_1_4_0.exe' or use 'tcp2com-1.0.0-bin.zip'
Configure tcp2com to export comm port and settings as required.
* For example on machine 10.0.0.10 export com4,57600,n,8,1,none to port 5555

On Linux
$ sudo apt-get install socat
$ sudo socat PTY,link=/dev/remotetty0,raw,echo=0,wait-slave tcp:10.0.0.10:5555
$ sudo kermit -l /dev/remotetty0

... enjoy

Sometimes it is the simplest of things that really make my day. And what is really cool is where something simple is solved in a really complex way and made to appear simple! Almost like magic in fact!!

The Problem

I have a serial device next to me connected to the comm port of my Windows PC. Let's make it connected through a serial-usb adapter just to make things complicated. Next; I am developing an application on a remote virtual (vmware ) linux machine which needs to communicate with the small serial device next to me!

Problem 1. I have no direct access to the virtual machine in order to take my serial device and plug it into the virtual machine's host.
Problem 2. Even if I could have my little serial device plugged into my remote virtual machine's host I would no longer be able to interact with it during development work.

The simple solution would be to have my little serial device magically connected to my remote virtual machine and still be sitting next to me and my Windows PC.
Note my use of the word 'simple'; simple in description but not so in solution.

The Outcome

When a problem has been nagging to the point of being insufferable it is amazing how a little action, imagination and perseverance can produce magic.
With the help of two little tools; 'tcp2com.exe' and 'socat'; I am now able to enjoy the convenience of having my little serial device plugged into my Windows PC and being plugged into my remote virtual linux machine at the same time ... simply magic!

The Solution

I am not going to recount chapter and verse on how I made this magic happen. I don't want to make it easy for anyone else. So here is an incredibly terse, dot-point-list of actions I took.

Setup

On Windows
Install 'COM2TCPInstall_1_4_0.exe' or use 'tcp2com-1.0.0-bin.zip'
Configure tcp2com to export comm port and settings as required.
Example, on machine 10.0.0.10 export com4,57600,n,8,1,none to port 5555

On Linux
$ sudo apt-get install socat
$ sudo socat PTY,link=/dev/remotetty0,raw,echo=0,wait-slave tcp:10.0.0.10:5555

Testing

On Windows
Open 'hypertrm' and connect to com4,57600,n,8,1,none

On Linux ( different console session )
$ sudo kermit -l /dev/remotetty0
C-Kermit->set flow none
C-Kermit->set carrier off
C-Kermit->set speed 57600
C-Kermit->connect

You should now be able to communicate between the two local terminals as if the machines were connected with a serial cable.

... enjoy