Dell PowerConnect Serial Console on Linux

Here's how to setup minicom on Linux to talk to a Dell PowerConnect.

Install minicom

sudo apt-get install minicom

Get your host's serial port.

dmesg | grep --color ttyS

Example output:

dmesg | grep --color ttyS
serial8250: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
serial8250: ttyS1 at I/O 0x2f8 (irq = 3) is a 16550A
00:05: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
00:06: ttyS1 at I/O 0x2f8 (irq = 3) is a 16550A

If you don't see anything listed, check your BIOS and make sure the serial port is enabled.

Now configure minicom.

minicom -s

Select "Serial port setup" and configure your settings as follows:

    +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
    | 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 : No                                        |
    | G - Software Flow Control : No                                        |
    |                                                                       |
    |    Change which setting?                                              |
    +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Now you can either save these as dfl (default ) or something like dell_powerconnect.

Use your Dell setup like this.

minicom dell_powerconnect