[c-nsp] Re: Laptop USB-to-serial adapters

Roger Weeks rjw at mcn.org
Fri Nov 4 12:17:01 EST 2005


Jay, both of us network techs here happily use Apple PowerBooks with  
USB to Serial adapters.  The best ones I've found that are actually  
designed to be Apple compatible come from Keyspan:

http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/USA19HS/

For terminal emulation, good old ZTerm is still around and has been  
ported to OSX:

http://homepage.mac.com/dalverson/zterm/

--
Roger J. Weeks
Systems & Network Administrator
Mendocino Community Network

> Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 21:17:41 -0800 (PST)
> From: Jay Hennigan <jay at west.net>
> Subject: [c-nsp] Laptop USB-to-serial adapters - Break sequence?
> To: cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
>
> It seems that my trusty 1999-vintage laptop is on its last legs, and
> the phrase "RS-232 port" draws even blanker stares than normal from
> the salespeople at most computer stores.  Serial ports on laptops are
> becoming rather scarce.
>
> One of the main things for which I use a laptop is field service of
> Cisco gear, which usually involves console access and occasionally
> the need for sending a break sequence.
>
> Apparently the preferred method of dealing with this problem is the
> use ofa dongle that plugs into the laptop's USB port and provides a
> 9-pin serial plug.  There seem to be a plethora of these available
> at various prices.
>
> Who has gone down this road before?  Any recommendations or warnings?
> Ideally something that is compatible with BSD or Linux and minicom,
> although I'm actually beginning to like the new Mac laptops which
> are BSD under the hood.
>
> --
> Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Administration - jay at west.net
> WestNet:  Connecting you to the planet.  805 884-6323      WB6RDV
> NetLojix Communications, Inc.  -  http://www.netlojix.com/



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