Serial Console on Sun UltraSparc servers
First of all you need null model cable. Specialists of old school can solder their own, but this art is essentially lost :-).
Sun server usually come with one crossover 9-pin connector (silver colored, Sun Part No. 530-3100-01). Don't throw it out 
when you get with the server ;-). This connector can be used with a regular Ethernet cable. That's the most convenient solution for 
server rooms as you can use cable of any necessary length to position your laptop conveniently or get to the desktop or workstation 
(if connecting to a Sun workstation or server, use 25 pin connector --- Sun Part No. 530-2889-03 or equivalent).  You can also 
create your own or buy ready made cable

Sun servers have two management port: one serial management  (marked SER MGT) and one Net management ( marked NET MGT).  
You need to use serial management port. It has Ethernet connector. 
You can use iether sun connector or cables used for managing network devices like Cisco.  
Cisco "blue cable" is probably the most common cable of this type.
  
Net management port is used to connect to
ALOM (ILOM on newer Sun servers like 
SPARC T4-1 Server) and you need to configure 
it before that. 
There are several ways to use serial console for connecting to Sun servers
	- Use nearby unix server, and put the cable from seriat port of this server to the SER 
	MGT port on you Sun server, You can use terminal emulator (tip) on Unix machine or if you have a laptop with 
	Linux installed you can use it too.
 
	- Use nearby Windows server. In this case you can install some Windows terminal emulator ( Teraterm or 
	Putty are perfect for that). It is not necessary 
	to be administrator to access serial port so any user account suffice. 
 
	- Use your laptop. The problem here is the many modern laptops do not have serial port. 
	So one way out is to use some older model that that has such a port, for example Dell620. 
	Actually its cost ($40-$60 on eBay) is not much higher that cost of good USB to serial cable 
	;-). And it will work much better. In this case you need to find iether docking station with serial port in it, or buy a USB cable 
	that has convertor from USB to serial interface. Those convertors are notoriously unreliable. Try 
	using only a high quality USB to "RS232" converter with the Windows machine, 
	especially Windows 7. 
	Installing Prolific USB-to-Serial Driver might help. Click
	
	here to download it... Often connection simplyfreeze (Putty 
	Serial Connection problems Unix Linux Forums Solaris)
	
	
		Q: The serial connection freezes on my Windows 7 64 and 32 Bit machines.
		
			I unplug and plug it back in and try to reconnect the connection only to get an error 
		message "Unable to open connection" .
		The only remedy was to force restart my Windows 7 machine.
		Is there any processes or services I can force it to shut down rather than force rebooting 
		my Windows machine every time this happens? 
I also notice in my device manager when the Serial connection freezes the "COM4 serial to 
		Bridge" device is no where to be seen.
I am using putty version .62
Serial: COM4 
			
Speed: 9600
Data bits: 8
Stop bits: 1
Parity: None
Flow control: XON/XOFF
			I was wondering if any of you have faced this problem that I have been having for 
			quite some time now regarding serial connection with putty to my Solaris Box Sunfire 
			v250 and Sun v220 and sun v440. 
		
		A: 
		
			I am assuming here that the Windows side uses a USB to "RS232"-Serial converter.
			
			These can be notoriously unreliable.
			
			I am also assuming the the V250 has a _standard_ 9 pin RS232 port.
			
			Try using a high quality USB to "RS232" converter with the Windows machine...
			
			I would suggest changing the speed from 9600 to 1200 and observing whether reliability 
			improves after the change.
			Also XON/XOFF can be disabled at the slower speed just in case handshaking is giving 
			grief.
 
		
	
	
	 
	- Use modem. Many older laptops have built-in modem. If you have spare external modem 
	you can connect both and connect them via  a regular phone cable. This trick requires 
	understanding of modem commands ;-),  If the buildings has "old" analog phone network or 
	you can switch PBX connections to analog mode you can also use this as extra remote connection. 
 
No keyboard should be connected to Sun server/workstation on which you plan to use serial console. Sun machines on power-up check 
the presence of the keyboard. If something is plugged in, they assume the console input device is the keyboard. If it doesn't see any 
keyboard, it redirects console input/output to serial port "A". 
Whether or not the Sun server has a  videocard ("framebuffer" card) installed is irrelevant. 
Modern Sun workstations have a framebuffer 
built in. That's why the test is always done for the keyboard  presence. 
If you use USB to serial convertor you need to test it first with some workstation to 
be sure that it works. Many of them don't. Problem can be Windows 7 driver (especially on 
Windows 64) or the quality of cable. Often you can borrow such cable from network engineers, who use 
then for connecting to CISCO routers. In this case you can consider the cable tested and it should 
work for you as well.  If you need to buy such a cable it is also prudent to buy the same as 
network engineers use, even if it cost slightly more.  
Do not connect a keyboard to the Sun machine if you want to use serial console
If you SHUT OFF YOUR TERMINAL, while it is connected to a running Sun machine, you send a "break" signal via the serial line and 
the Sun will jump back into the OK prompt, halting the OS. This can cause  considerable confusion. 
Note: you can upgrade to free version 6.3 (non-commercial use)
Try  these COM1 port settings:
	- Bits per second: 9600
 
	- Data bits: 8
 
	- Parity: None
 
	- Stop bits: 1
 
	- Flow Control: None
 
I'm going to use a Dell C600 laptop an an example. The laptop has a 9pin serial port at the back that corresponds to Serial port 
1 (SER 1). In other cases you need first to verify that you're "speaking" to the correct port (you can do this using for example serial 
mouse and disconnecting your current mouse).  
Using windows terminal you can use VT-100 or better. 
You can connect to Sun server that has no keyboard or display attached anytime. sometimes you need to press enter one of two times 
to see the output. You can disconnect anytime by disconnecting cable (do not close you terminal). 
Note: tip is available in SFU  and Solaris as well as HP-UX and AIX. It uses 
configuration file /etc/remote. Connect the appropriate serial cable from serial port on laptop (usually serial port 1) to serial port A 
or SER MGT on target 
Sun system. 
Use "tip hardwire" (not "hardware") to open a connection to the headless box before booting it: From a 
Solaris shell prompt on the local system, issue the command: 
	tip hardwire
	OR 
	tip ser1 
Notes
	- This is "tip hardwire" (not "tip hardware"). 
 
	- ser1 should be defined in  /etc/remote 
	(see below)
 
hardwire is defined on Solaris in the /etc/remote
to use port B (for laptop you need to correct this or add another line, see below): 
	cuab:dv=/dev/cua/b:br#2400
	dialup1|Dial-up system:\
        :pn=2015551212:tc=UNIX-2400:
	hardwire:\
        :dv=/dev/term/b:br#9600:el=^C^S^Q^U^D:ie=%$:oe=^D:
	tip300:tc=UNIX-300:
	tip1200:tc=UNIX-1200:
	tip0|tip2400:tc=UNIX-2400:
	tip9600:tc=UNIX-9600:
	tip19200:tc=UNIX-19200:
	UNIX-300:\
If you need to connect from serial port A you need to modify this entry in /etc/remote 
or better add another entry, for example ser1 :  
	ser1:\
        :dv=/dev/term/a:br#9600:el=^C^S^Q^U^D:ie=%$:oe=^D:
After tip session established you can boot the server. This tip session should be kept 
active as long as server remains online. 
You should be connected. Press enter a few times to see if you are getting a response. If you are not, check your connections and make 
sure you have the right cable.
From within tip, you can access a tip menu by pressing ~? after a carriage return. To quit the tip session, press ~. and to send 
a break character, type ~# 
	
		| 
		 To send a break character, type ~#  
		 | 
	
The hardwire parameter in the tip command refers to an entry in the file /etc/remote which describes the serial port connections. 
By default, hardwire specifies port B with 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no stop bits, and 1 parity bit. Connect, via a null modem, 
serial port "A" of the Sun to your terminal's serial port. Your terminal settings should be 9600 8N1, which are the default serial settings 
of the Sun.
If you use tip, if possible, emulate a SUNTERM.  
PuTTY is a free and open source gui X based terminal emulator client for the SSH, Telnet, rlogin, 
and raw TCP computing protocols and as a serial console client. It works under Linux, Unix, Mac OS 
X, MS-Windows and few other operating systems. You just need to set port parameters and you are in 
business:

Using Teraterm is similar to using Putty. You just need to set correct parameters for serial port and you are in business
 
						This can be recommended only to heavy screen users who already know GNU 
screen very well.
 
						The first parameter to the screen command defines which type of window is 
						created. If a tty name (e.g. "/dev/ttyS0") is specified as the first 
						parameter to the screen command, then the window is directly connected to 
						this device. An optional parameter is allowed consisting of a comma 
						separated list of flags in the notation as follows: 
screen /dev/ttySX baud_rate,cs8|cs7,ixon|-ixon,ixoff|-ixoff,istrip|-istrip
 
					
				
			
		
	
   
      Where,
         - /dev/ttySX: Linux serial port (e.g., /dev/ttyS0 
							[COM1] )
 
         - baud_rate: Usually 300, 1200, 9600 or 19200. This 
							affects transmission as well as receive speed.
 
         - cs8 or cs7: Specify the 
							transmission of eight (or seven) bits per byte.
 
         - ixon or -ixon: Enables (or 
							disables) software flow-control (CTRL-S/CTRL-Q) for sending data.
 
         - ixoff or -ixoff: Enables (or 
							disables) software flow-control for receiving data.
 
         - istrip or -istrip: Clear (or keep) 
							the eight bit in each received byte.
 
         
         In this example, I'm connecting to my Soekris based embedded router using 
						/dev/ttyS0 with 19200 baud rate and cs8:
$ screen /dev/ttyS0 19200,cs8
 
    
 
 
Another common application  for connecting to a serial console is UUCP. Most Linux and Unix 
distributions include the UUCP application. Start UUCP with the command "cu -l [device] -s 
[speed]", where [device] is the serial port you are using, such as ttyS0 (COM1) or 
ttyS1 (COM2), and [speed] is the speed of the serial console that you are connecting to. 
Here is an example: 
 
	
		
		
# cu -l /dev/ttyS0 -s 9600 
		 | 
	
 
You may need to hit enter before you see the login prompt. If you see a bunch of weird 
characters, then you probably specified the wrong speed. 
To exit, just type "~.". 
 
Now, depending upon the machine you have, and the revision of your PROM, you'll either be greeted by a ">" prompt or an "ok" prompt. 
Machines that have everything configured properly and a working OS will of course, begin to boot by themselves rather than displaying 
a prompt. 
If you want to stop the boot from happening so you can wipe out the OS to install something else (or just perform maintenance) or 
make changes to the NVRAM, then, before the OS starts to load from the HD, (essentially, right after it tells you the hardware Ethernet 
address, but before it says "boot device"), you need to send a "break" signal.
	- On a PC, this is done by holding down the CTRL key and tapping the "Break" key (Pause/Break on most PC keyboards).
	
 
	- 
	
tip sends break via 
	"~#"
	 
Once you've sent a break, as above, you'll be greeted by "OK" prompt (FORTH interpreter prompt). 
	
	Hi all,
	I have just replaced the HDD on a Ultra 5 Spark machine, now I need to reinstall Solaris 9.
	The problem is: how do I get to the OK prompt without a Sun keyboard in order to boot from CD?
	At moment when I power on the machine I get the following error:
	Timeout Waiting for ARP/RARP Packet
	Probably because it's trying to boof off the network.
	What are you using to connect to the server?
	If using a laptop on the serial connection of the server, Control Break should get you to the ok prompt - but only if break 
	is allowed.
	
		
			Ctrl-Break in Serial Console 
			Author: KurtGuenther  
			Posts: 5   Registered: 8/1/05  | 
			 | 
			Nov 30, 2005 8:54 AM  | 
			  | 
		
	
	
	I can't seem to get Ctrl-Break to work in a serial console. I'm using Linux minicom, and I've tried two different keyboards.
	
	Any ideas? Is there a "~break" command?
	
		
			Re: Ctrl-Break in Serial Console 
			Author: rajanikk  Posts: 
			9   Registered: 12/23/05  | 
			 | 
			Dec 23, 2005 10:08 AM (reply 2 of 3)  | 
			  | 
		
	
	try putty, using it u can send ctrl-break to serial console using mouse. no need for keyboard. 
Using Serial Consoles - (Solaris / Linux) by Jeff Hunter, Sr. Database Administrator 
	The following article documents some of the tips for connecting the serial port of a UNIX Server (Sun SPARC / Linux) to the serial 
	port (console) of a Sun Server. This is often helpful and even necessary when performing routine administrative tasks or initiating 
	critical and/or long running processes. Access to the serial console for many Sun servers is the only way to perform administrative 
	tasks given these servers do not come with a frame buffer (i.e. video card).
	There are times when I need to initiate a long running job but cannot remain connected to the network for the duration of its 
	execution. In cases like this, I can connect to the serial console of the Sun server, initiate the job and disconnect. The job will 
	remain running even when I drop my connection to the serial port. I can, at a later time, reconnect to the serial console to determine 
	the results. 
	The first two sections of this article explain the applications (programs) used from a Sun SPARC server and then a Linux server 
	for obtaining a serial console connection. The remainder of this article attempts to describe the details (cables, connections, 
	adapters) of obtaining a serial console connection to/from different Sun SPARC servers. 
Connect From Sun SPARC Serial Port
	From a Sun machine, if you wanted to access the serial console of another computer (ie. Linux, Sun, etc.), you would use the
	tip  command. The configuration file for tip  is /etc/remote. In most cases, you 
	will be concerned with the hardwire  entry in this file. First, connect the two machines by their serial 
	ports (null modem if required), and from the Sun SPARC (Solaris) machine, type the following at the command-line to connect to the 
	serial console of the other machine (Solaris / Linux):
	  # tip hardwire
	Below is an example /etc/remote  file from the Sun SPARC (Solaris) machine that contains the hardwire  
	entry to go through serial port B (/dev/term/b). If you wanted to change this entry to go out through serial port A instead, 
	change "/dev/term/b" to "/dev/term/a".
	cuab:dv=/dev/cua/b:br#2400
dialup1|Dial-up system:\
        :pn=2015551212:tc=UNIX-2400:
hardwire:\
        :dv=/dev/term/b:br#9600:el=^C^S^Q^U^D:ie=%$:oe=^D:
tip300:tc=UNIX-300:
tip1200:tc=UNIX-1200:
tip0|tip2400:tc=UNIX-2400:
tip9600:tc=UNIX-9600:
tip19200:tc=UNIX-19200:
UNIX-300:\
        :el=^D^U^C^S^Q^O@:du:at=hayes:ie=#$%:oe=^D:br#300:tc=dialers:
UNIX-1200:\
        :el=^D^U^C^S^Q^O@:du:at=hayes:ie=#$%:oe=^D:br#1200:tc=dialers:
UNIX-2400:\
        :el=^D^U^C^S^Q^O@:du:at=hayes:ie=#$%:oe=^D:br#2400:tc=dialers:
UNIX-9600:\
        :el=^D^U^C^S^Q^O@:du:at=hayes:ie=#$%:oe=^D:br#9600:tc=dialers:
UNIX-19200:\
        :el=^D^U^C^S^Q^O@:du:at=hayes:ie=#$%:oe=^D:br#19200:tc=dialers:
VMS-300|TOPS20-300:\
        :el=^Z^U^C^S^Q^O:du:at=hayes:ie=$@:oe=^Z:br#300:tc=dialers:
VMS-1200|TOPS20-1200:\
        :el=^Z^U^C^S^Q^O:du:at=hayes:ie=$@:oe=^Z:br#1200:tc=dialers:
dialers:\
        :dv=/dev/cua/b:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The attributes are:
dv      device to use for the tty
el      EOL marks (default is NULL)
du      make a call flag (dial up)
pn      phone numbers (@ =>'s search phones file; possibly taken from
                              PHONES environment variable)
at      ACU type
ie      input EOF marks (default is NULL)
oe      output EOF string (default is NULL)
cu      call unit (default is dv)
br      baud rate (defaults to 300)
fs      frame size (default is BUFSIZ) -- used in buffering writes
          on receive operations
tc      to continue a capability
	Connect to a Sun Serial Console from Linux
	Linux provides two methods (programs) that can be used to connect to a serial console of a Sun server. 
	Connecting Using minicom 
	
		The first application I'll talk about is "minicom". Most Linux distributions (i.e. Red Hat) already include minicom. If your 
		particular distribution does not include minicom, you can download it from the following URL:
		http://www.pp.clinet.fi/~walker/mcdevel.html.
		Once you have Minicom installed, start it up with the command "minicom". Press "Ctrl-A Z" to get to 
		the main menu. Press "o" to configure minicom. Go to "Serial port setup" and make sure that you are set to the correct "Serial 
		Device" and that the speed on line E matches the speed of the serial console you are connecting to. (In most cases with Sun, 
		this is 9600.) Here are the settings I made when using my Serial A / COM1 port on my Linux box: 
		+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| A -    Serial Device      : /dev/ttyS0                                |
| B - Lockfile Location     : /var/lock                                 |
| C -   Callin Program      :                                           |
| D -  Callout Program      :                                           |
| E -    Bps/Par/Bits       : 9600 8N1                                  |
| F - Hardware Flow Control : Yes                                       |
| G - Software Flow Control : No                                        |
|                                                                       |
|    Change which setting?                                              |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
		After making all necessary changes, hit the ESC key to go back to the "configurations" menu. Now go to "Modem and dialing". 
		Change the "Init string" to "~^M~". Save the settings (as dflt), and then restart Minicom. You should now see a login 
		prompt.
	
	Connecting Using UUCP 
	
		Another common application to use in Linux for connecting to a serial console is UUCP. Most Linux distributions include the 
		UUCP application. Start UUCP with the command "cu -l [device] -s [speed]", where [device] is the serial port you 
		are using, such as ttyS0  (COM1) or ttyS1 (COM2), and [speed] is the speed of the serial console that you are 
		connecting to.
		Here is an example: 
		# cu -l /dev/ttyS0 -s 9600
		You may need to hit enter before you see the login prompt. If you see a bunch of weird characters, then you probably specified 
		the wrong speed.
		To exit, just type "~.". 
	
	Sun Blade 100/150
	
		- Connecting to a Blade 100/150
		
To obtain a serial console connection to a Sun Blade 100/150 you will need the following (These procedures will work to 
		an Ultra 5/10 as well): 
		
			- Connect the serial port of your local PC/workstation to the DB9 Serial port on the back of the Sun Blade (or Ultra 5/10) 
			using a serial cable (straight through). 
 
			- You will need to use a null modem adapter. 
 
			- Communication settings:
			
				
					| Bits per second: | 
					9600 | 
				
				
					| Data bits: | 
					8 | 
				
				
					| Parity: | 
					None | 
				
				
					| Stop bits: | 
					1 | 
				
				
					| Flow Control: | 
					Hardware | 
				
			
			 
		
		
			
				| NOTE: You will not be able to make use of the serial console if the Sun server 
				was booted with the keyboard/mouse plugged in. In order to make use of the serial console, you will need to disconnect 
				the keyboard/mouse and reboot the Sun server. On the Sun Blade 100/150, if the keyboard/mouse are plugged in during 
				the boot phase, all console output will be redirected to the VGA console.  | 
			
		
		 
		- Connecting from a Blade 100/150
		
To obtain a serial connection from a Sun Blade 100/150 to another server (possibly another Sun SPARC machine) you will need 
		the following (These procedures will work from an Ultra 5/10 as well): 
		
			- On the back of a Sun Blade 100/150 (or Ultra 5/10) there is only one serial port that is dedicated to serial A (/dev/ttya). 
			This serial port is typically being used by the console and will often require you to use Serial B (/dev/ttyb). 
			This is where it gets fun. There is a second serial port connector located on the motherboard (actually the PCI riser card) 
			labeled J13. The PCI riser card is a PWA-GROVER-PLUS_RISERCARD 411707500011 and requires a special cable. The special cable 
			connects to the PCI riser card (J13) on one end while the other end is a DB9 male port that will use one of your available 
			PCI dust cover slots. This is the only way I have found to make a connection from a Sun Blade (or Ultra 5/10); using serial 
			port B out which requires this special cable to be installed in order to have access to serial port B.
			
Click here or
			here to see an exploded view of an 
			Ultra 10 Workstation - System Breakdown. The special cable I am refering to is Sun Manufacturing Part# 370-3165 - Serial 
			B and Parallel Cable Assembly - (Code 3a) in the Ultra 10 Workstation System Breakdown. I needed to order the Ultra 
			10 Cable Service Kit/FRU (370-3267) in order to obtain this cable. You can order this kit from
			Ajava,
			Partsolver,
			Trident Computer Resources, 
			Inc., Asset Conversion Specialists, Inc., 
			or Sun Microsystems. 
			 
			- After installing the the Serial B and Parallel Cable Assembly in your Sun Blade, you will have access to serial 
			port B (/dev/ttyb). Connect the new DB9 serial port (serial B) from the Sun Blade to the back of the server (Sun, 
			Linux) you want to make a serial console connection to. In most cases, this will be using a straight through serial 
			cable. 
 
			- For most connections to a Sun SPARC, you will need to use a null modem adapter. 
 
			- From the Sun Blade (or Ultra 5/10) use the tip  program to initiate the serial console connection 
			to the other server. Ensure that you edit the /etc/remote  file from the Sun Blade you are connecting from 
			and change the hardwire entry to use serial B - /dev/term/b.
			
# tip hardwire
			 
		
		 
	
	Sun E450
	
		- Connecting to a Sun E450
		
To obtain a serial console connection to a Sun E450 you will need the following: 
		
			- Connect the serial port of your local PC/workstation to the DB25 Serial A/B port on the back of the Sun E450 using a 
			serial cable (straight through). There is only one serial port on the back of an E450 that contains both Serial A 
			and Serial B. When you plug directly into the serial port on the back of the E450, you are accessing Serial A. 
 
			- You will need to use a null modem adapter. 
 
			- Communication settings:
			
				
					| Bits per second: | 
					9600 | 
				
				
					| Data bits: | 
					8 | 
				
				
					| Parity: | 
					None | 
				
				
					| Stop bits: | 
					1 | 
				
				
					| Flow Control: | 
					Hardware | 
				
			
			 
		
		 
		- Connecting from a Sun E450
		
To obtain a serial connection from a Sun E450 to another server (possibly another Sun SPARC machine) you will need the following:
		
		
			- On the back of a Sun E450, there is only one DB25 (female) serial port (labeled Serial A/B) that is used to contain 
			wiring for both Serial A and Serial B. The system provides two serial communications ports through a single, shared DB25 
			connector located on the rear panel. If you are to plug a serial cable directly into the DB25 serial port on the back of 
			an E450, you will only be accessing the primary port (Serial A). This will not work to get a serial connection out from 
			since it is reserved for the console of the machine. You will need to obtain access to Serial B (which is contained within 
			the shared Serial A/B port) by using a special Y-Cable (serial splitter). In order to access the secondary port (Serial 
			B), a serial port splitter cable (Sun Part#: X985A or 530-1869) must be attached to the rear panel serial port A/B connector. 
			The serial splitter connects to the Serial A/B - DB25 (female) connection on the back of the E450 to give you two DB25 (female) 
			connections - one for Serial A and the other for Serial B. Here are several places where I found the serial splitter:
			
			
You will need to use Serial Port B to make a connection from the E450 to another server. Connect the Sun E450 from its 
			Serial B to the back of the other server (Sun, Linux) you want to make a serial console connection to. In most cases, this 
			will be using a straight through serial cable. 
			If you are connecting from the Sun E450 to another machine (i.e. Sun Blade, Sun Ultra, etc) that has a normal DB9 male 
			port, you can use a Belkin F2L088-06 DB9 Female/DB25 Male Modem Cable (often with a null modem adapter): 
			
			 
			- For most connections to a Sun SPARC, you will need to use a null modem adapter. 
 
			- From the E450 use the tip  program to initiate the serial console connection to the other server. 
			Ensure that you edit the /etc/remote  file from the machine you are connecting from (the E450) and change 
			the hardwire entry to use serial B - /dev/term/b.
			
# tip hardwire
			 
		
		 
	
	Sun E250
	
		- Connecting to a Sun E250
		
To obtain a serial console connection to a Sun E250 you will need the following: 
		
			- Connect the serial port of your local PC/workstation to the DB25 Serial A port on the back of the Sun E250 using a serial 
			cable (straight through). There are two DB25 serial ports on the back of an E250. Make sure you connect to Serial 
			A. 
 
			- You will need to use a null modem adapter. 
 
			- Communication settings:
			
				
					| Bits per second: | 
					9600 | 
				
				
					| Data bits: | 
					8 | 
				
				
					| Parity: | 
					None | 
				
				
					| Stop bits: | 
					1 | 
				
				
					| Flow Control: | 
					Hardware | 
				
			
			 
		
		 
		- Connecting from a Sun E250
		
To obtain a serial connection from a Sun E250 to another server (possibly another Sun SPARC machine) you will need the following:
		
		
			- On the back of a Sun E250, there are two DB25 (female) Serial Ports for Serial A and Serial B. Serial A is used for 
			other machines to obtain a serial console connection into the E250. You will need to use Serial Port B to make a connection 
			from the E250 to another server. Connect the Sun E250 from its second serial port (serial B) to the back of the server (Sun, 
			Linux) you want to make a serial console connection to. In most cases, this will be using a straight through serial 
			cable.
			
If you are connecting from the Sun E250 to another machine (i.e. Sun Blade, Sun Ultra, etc) that has a normal DB9 male 
			port, you can use a Belkin F2L088-06 DB9 Female/DB25 Male Modem Cable (often with a null modem adapter): 
			
			 
			- For most connections to a Sun SPARC, you will need to use a null modem adapter. 
 
			- From the E250 use the tip  program to initiate the serial console connection to the other server. 
			Ensure that you edit the /etc/remote  file from the machine you are connecting from (the E250) and change 
			the hardwire entry to use serial B - /dev/term/b.
			
# tip hardwire
			 
		
		 
	
	Sun V100
	
		- Connecting to a Sun V100
		
To obtain a serial console connection to a Sun V100 you will need the following: 
		
			- Connect the serial port of your local PC/workstation to the serial port (serial port B) on the back of the Sun V100. 
			The Sun V100 has two serial ports on the back of it. To make a serial connection to the Sun V100, you will be connecting 
			to Serial A (LOM A). This is the "Lights Out Management" port used for issuing LOM commands.
			
Depending on the type of device you use to connect to the Sun V100 server, you may need to use either a DB25 or DB9 serial 
			adapter (both included with the Sun V100). 
			 
			- Connecting Sun SPARC to Sun V100
			
To connect to a Solaris tip  session or to a VT100 terminal, you need to use either the DB25 (25-Pin 
			DSUB Male to 8-POS RJ-45 Female) adapter that is supplied by Sun (Sun Part# 530-2889) with the V100, or an alternative adapter 
			that performs the same pin crossovers. The Sun-supplied DB25 adapter (530-2889) enables you to connect to any Sun system.
			
			Insert one end of the standard RJ-45 patch cable supplied with the Sun Fire V100 server into Serial A (LOM). Insert the 
			other end of the RJ-45 patch cable into the supplied DB25 adapter. Finally, attach the adapter to the appropriate port in 
			your serial device. 
			
				
					| Pin Crossovers in the Sun DB-25 (25-Pin) Adapter | 
				
				
					| Serial Port (RJ-45 Connector) Pin | 
					25-Pin Connecter | 
				
				
					| Pin 1 (RTS) | 
					Pin 5 (CTS) | 
				
				
					| Pin 2 (DTR) | 
					Pin 6 (DSR) | 
				
				
					| Pin 3 (TXD) | 
					Pin 3 (RXD) | 
				
				
					| Pin 4 (Signal Ground) | 
					Pin 7 (Signal Ground) | 
				
				
					| Pin 5 (Signal Ground) | 
					Pin 7 (Signal Ground) | 
				
				
					| Pin 6 (RXD) | 
					Pin 2 (TXD) | 
				
				
					| Pin 7 (DSR) | 
					Pin 20 (DTR) | 
				
				
					| Pin 8 (CTS) | 
					Pin 4 (RTS) | 
				
			
			 
			- Connecting PC, Laptop or handheld computer to Sun V100
			
Some devices, such as a PC, laptop or handheld computer, require you to use either a male or female DB-9 adapter. The 
			Sun DB9 adaptor (Sun Part: 530-3100-xx) is a 9-Pin DSUB female to 8-POS RJ-45 female adapter included with the Sun V100. 
			The following table is the pin crossovers: 
			Insert one end of the standard RJ-45 patch cable supplied with the Sun Fire V100 server into Serial A (LOM). Insert the 
			other end of the RJ-45 patch cable into the supplied DB9 adapter. Finally, attach the adapter to the appropriate port in 
			your serial device. 
			
				
					| Pin Crossovers in the DB-9 (9-Pin) Adapter | 
				
				
					| Serial Port (RJ-45 Connector) Pin | 
					9-Pin Connector | 
				
				
					| Pin 1 (RTS) | 
					Pin 8 (CTS) | 
				
				
					| Pin 2 (DTR) | 
					Pin 6 (DSR) | 
				
				
					| Pin 3 (TXD) | 
					Pin 2 (RXD) | 
				
				
					| Pin 4 (Signal Ground) | 
					Pin 5 (Signal Ground) | 
				
				
					| Pin 5 (Signal Ground) | 
					Pin 5 (Signal Ground) | 
				
				
					| Pin 6 (RXD) | 
					Pin 3 (TXD) | 
				
				
					| Pin 7 (DSR) | 
					Pin 4 (DTR) | 
				
				
					| Pin 8 (CTS) | 
					Pin 7 (RTS) | 
				
			
			 
			- You will NOT need to use a null modem adapter for either the DB25 or DB9 connections. 
 
			- Communication settings for both DB25 and DB9 connections:
			
				
					| Bits per second: | 
					9600 | 
				
				
					| Data bits: | 
					8 | 
				
				
					| Parity: | 
					None | 
				
				
					| Stop bits: | 
					1 | 
				
				
					| Flow Control: | 
					Hardware | 
				
			
			 
		
		 
		- Connecting from a Sun V100
		
To obtain a serial connection from a Sun V100 to another server (possibly another Sun SPARC machine) you will need the following:
		
		
		 
	
 
Softpanorama Recommended
SunHELP UNIX Serial Port Resources
Using Serial Consoles 
- (Solaris - Linux)
	
		- To obtain a serial console connection to a Sun Blade 100/150 you will need the following (These procedures will work 
		to an Ultra 5/10 as well): 
 
 
			
				| NOTE: You will not be able to 
				make use of the serial console if the Sun server was booted with the keyboard/mouse plugged in. In order to make use 
				of the serial console, you will need to disconnect the keyboard/mouse and reboot the Sun server. On the Sun Blade 100/150, 
				if the keyboard/mouse are plugged in during the boot phase, all console output will be redirected to the VGA console.
				 | 
			
		
		
	
Disabling BREAK on Sun console 
serial ports 
Gentoo Linux Documentation -- Gentoo Linux-SPARC Frequently 
Asked Questions
Sun Serial Port & Cable Pinouts
Complete pinouts guide to Parallel, Serial, 
Network and Monitor Cables for the IBM PC 
Ultraspec Workstation Cables 
Null modem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amazon.com 
Tripp Lite Null Modem Cable Db9f-db9m Gold Connections (6 FT) Electronics
SunHELP Serial 
Port & Cable Pinouts
	RJ45 - DB25 RS232 serial converter cable, RJ45 - DB9 serial cable: Below are pinouts for an RJ45 - DB25 
			RS232 serial converter cable, part number 530-2889-01 and a RJ45 - DB9 serial cable, part number 530-3100-01. 
			(There is also an unknown part number which has the same pinout except that the RJ45 BODY (black) is wired to RS232 pin 
			1 GND.)
			Note that these are wired DCE. If you use the supplied RJ45 to DB25 RS232 adapter, you get a null-modem cable, suitable 
			for a terminal connection. 
       Machine            Sun serial DB25              Machine            DB9 adapter
RJ45               RS-232 adapter               RJ45               RS-232 Pin
Pin                part # 530-2889-01           Pin                part # 530-3100-xx
1 (RTS) blue   - 5  (CTS)                     1 (RTS) blue   - 8 (CTS)
2 (DTR) orange - 6  (DSR)                     2 (DTR) orange - 6 (DSR)
3 (TXD) black  - 3  (RXD)                     3 (TXD) black  - 2 (RXD)
4 (GND) red    - 7  (GND)                     4 (GND) red    - 5 (GND)  
5 (GND) green  - 7  (GND)                     5 (GND) green  - 5 (GND)
6 (RXD) yellow - 2  (TXD)                     6 (RXD) yellow - 3 (TXD)
7 (DSR) brown  - 20 (DTR)                     7 (DSR) brown  - 4 (DTR)
8 (CTS) gray   - 4  (RTS)                     8 (CTS) gray   - 7 (RTS)
    
	 
How To: Build a Null-Modem Serial Cable
	Connect Pin to Pin on each end.
	
		 25-pin 25-pin 2 --------------- 3 3 --------------- 2 4 --------------- 5 5 --------------- 4 7 --------------- 7 6 ---+ +----------- 20 8 ---+ +--- 6 20 ----------+ +--- 8 
	
	This is the traditional "full handshaking" null modem cable. Adapters wired like this are available in most of the computer stores 
	I've been in. 
	Now, if you want to convert straight to a 9pin connector Greg LeBlanc offers the following insight: "You need to have full duplex, 
	otherwise, you just get output, but no return. (or, if you reverse the cable, you see nothing and can't tell that your keystrokes 
	are going through.) simply checking three pins with a multimeter isn't cutting it. you need the following connections to have a 
	fully compliant cable... 
	
		25 pin 9 pin pin 1 GND - pin 1 GND pin 2 TXD - pin 3 RXD pin 3 RXD - pin 3 TXD pin 4 RTS - pin 8 CTS pin 5 CTS - pin 7 RTS pin 7 gnd - pin 5 gnd pin 6 DSR - pin 4 DTR pin 20 DTR - pin 6 DSR 
	
	Note that GND is frame ground and 'gnd' is Signal ground and the two should not be tied together...
	Some Null modem cables tie 6/20 together on the 25 pin side, this doesn't always work with all equipment. 
	I included the 9-25 pin arrangement because most PCs use 9 pin mouse ports as the serial port, and most Sun's use real 25 pin 
	serial connections 
Null Modem
Null Modem Cable Wiring Diagram
RS232 serial null modem cable wiring and tutorial
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