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Serial HOWTO

David S.Lawyer dave@lafn.org original by Greg Hankins

v2.27 February 2011
This document is for the UART serial port. This port has mostly disappeared from desktops and laptops is still used elsewhere such as for embedded systems. It covers information other than that which should be covered by Modem-HOWTO, PPP-HOWTO, Serial-Programming-HOWTO, or Text-Terminal-HOWTO. It lists info on multiport serial cards. It contains technical info about the serial port itself in more detail than found in the above HOWTOs and should be best for troubleshooting when the problem is the serial port itself. If you are dealing with a Modem, PPP (used for Internet access on a phone line), or a Text-Terminal, those HOWTOs should be consulted first.

1. Introduction

2. Quick Help

3. How the Hardware Transfers Bytes

4. Serial Port Basics

5. Multiport Serial Boards/Cards/Adapters

6. Servers for Serial Ports

7. Configuring Overview

8. Locating the Serial Port: IO address, IRQs

9. Configuring the Serial Driver (high-level) "stty"

10. Serial Port Devices /dev/ttyS2, etc.

11. Interesting Programs You Should Know About

12. Speed (Flow Rate)

13. Locking Out Others

14. Serial Communications Programs And Utilities

15. Serial Tips And Miscellany

16. Troubleshooting

17. Interrupt Problem Details

18. What Are UARTs? How Do They Affect Performance?

19. Pinout and Signals

20. Voltage Waveshapes

21. Other Serial Devices (not async RS-232)

22. Other Sources of Information

23. Appendix A: Very Obsolete Hardware/Software


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