Serial Console

[AZClusterboard]

Has anyone had any luck getting the serial console to work?  I'm not having any luck.

[mdmbc]

You'll need to use the UART0 pins, which are labelled PB8 and PB9 on the schematic rather than the UART2 pins. They're pins 7 and 8 on the header diagram.

[AZClusterboard]

You'll need to use the UART0 pins, which are labelled PB8 and PB9 on the schematic rather than the UART2 pins. They're pins 7 and 8 on the header diagram.

Step 1:  Power off the clusterboard completely

Step 2: Connect RX/TX to 7 and 8 (4 and 14 on the silkscreen)  Ground to 6 (13 on silkscreen)


Step 3:  For the console programmer on the Pine store:
https://www.pine64.org/?product=padi-serial-console
Move the jumper to 3.3v, Use ground, RX, TX as labeled then plug in your usb


Step 4:  On your terminal program (I used PuTTY for windows) set it to the appropriate com port (found in device manager) and the speed is 115200.  Start the connection then power on the clusterboard.

Thanks for your help!

[AZClusterboard]

Oh, and fair warning: The USB tries to power the board so you might have to play with it a little to get it to communicate properly.

[PigLover]

Oh, and fair warning: The USB tries to power the board so you might have to play with it a little to get it to communicate properly.

Don't connect the 5v power.  All you need are gnd and the two signal leads (rx/tx).  Connecting the power can actually damage things... (unlikely, but possible).

[AZClusterboard]

Oh, and fair warning: The USB tries to power the board so you might have to play with it a little to get it to communicate properly.

Don't connect the 5v power.  All you need are gnd and the two signal leads (rx/tx).  Connecting the power can actually damage things... (unlikely, but possible).

I did some testing and it looks like you don't need the power but you do need the ground.  I'll update my instructions after I get done trying to fix armbian today.

[BryanS]

Oh, and fair warning: The USB tries to power the board so you might have to play with it a little to get it to communicate properly.

Don't connect the 5v power.  All you need are gnd and the two signal leads (rx/tx).  Connecting the power can actually damage things... (unlikely, but possible).

I did some testing and it looks like you don't need the power but you do need the ground.  I'll update my instructions after I get done trying to fix armbian today.

That's correct. At minimum to make a bidirectional serial connection (that's not differential voltage,) you need RX, TX, and GND.

[pfeerick]

You almost always need ground to be common (i.e. all grounds connected together) in electrical circuits, as it's the reference that makes other voltages 'positive'. And even when you don't connect the 5v of the usb uart or serial console cable, you may have fun with the tx line of the usb uart/serial console cable supplying just enough power to make your device not want to boot properly... I used to just leave the tx connection off if I was only wanting to monitor (i.e. receive) or capture boot logs, or only connect a few seconds after powering up the board.