Console access withouth network or monitor.

[mypineme]

This thread describes a successful connection providing a UART Serial Console on a Linux Host however, this should work on Windows and Mac. The PINE64 board used is a 2GB version (A64-DB-2B-Rev B 2016-02-25). The connection is provided by a USB To RS232 adapter purchased from eBay:
NOTE: you would need 3.3v USB To RS232 adapter, otherwise you may fry your PINE64!


The successful connection is made on the EXP connector:

    Connect the GND (it should be labeled on the USB Module Adapter) to Pin 6 or 9 of the EXP connector.
    Connect the RX (it should be labeled on the USB Module Adapter) to Pin 7 of the EXP connector.
    Connect the TX (it should be labeled on the USB Module Adapter) to Pin 8 of the EXP connector.


Plug the USB end into your Linux host. Find the tty that has been assigned to it by opening a terminal window and typing

Code:

$ dmesg

. The last group of messages will show you how Linux has mapped the USB module to the tty. In my case the output appears as:

Code:

[ 4806.188739] usb 3-1: new full-speed USB device number 6 using uhci_hcd
[ 4806.338823] usb 3-1: New USB device found, idVendor=1a86, idProduct=7523
[ 4806.338828] usb 3-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 4806.338831] usb 3-1: Product: USB2.0-Serial
[ 4806.341875] ch341 3-1:1.0: ch341-uart converter detected
[ 4806.354983] usb 3-1: ch341-uart converter now attached to ttyUSB0

What I'm looking for is:

Code:

[ 4806.354983] usb 3-1: ch341-uart converter now attached to ttyUSB0

The final line of the output indicates the USB Serial Device has been assigned to ttyUSB0 (/dev/ttyUSB0).
There are many ways to connect to serial using Linux OS, I will show you two method that I use.
Method one (terminal):

Code:

$ sudo screeen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200

Method two (UI):
you would still need to run it from terminal as sudo.

Code:

$ sudo gtkterm

1.) Go to Configuration->Port
2.) Select /dev/ttyUSB0 from Port drop down
2.)Change Baud Rate to 115200
3.) Then click OK

Boot the PINE64 and you should see output in the terminal window on your Linux host.