On Thu, Jul 31, 2025 at 12:59:02AM +0100, mick.crane wrote: > I've never really known what a serial console is.
The name is a bit of history. When I connected to a large computer in the 1970s I did so using an AR 33 teletype, this was a largely mechanical device with a keyboard and printer (what you typed ended up on paper): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletype_Model_33 It connected to the computer via a *serial* connection and ran at a blistering 10 characters per second - it was noisy as well! I think that it was called a serial connection because the bits that made up the ASCII characters (7 bits + 1 parity bit) were transmitted one after the other down a twisted pair of wires. Later we got VDUs (Visual Display Units) which used the same serial connection but at a higher speed (look up 'baud') and these were a keyboard and aka TV that displayed characters, typically 23 or 24 lines of 80 characters. The Linux console (press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to see it) provides an emulation of a VDU - thus serial console. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletype_Model_33 > Say in relation to a Raspberry Pi or Arduino > I assumed a serial console was a device with a screen and keyboard. > When people talk about a serial console they are talking about connecting a > Debian PC to a device with a parallel, wired cable to a parallel port or an > adaptor on a PC and emulating this console thing with software? > Like a telnet connection? > mick > -- Alain Williams Linux/GNU Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT Lecturer. +44 (0) 787 668 0256 https://www.phcomp.co.uk/ Parliament Hill Computers. Registration Information: https://www.phcomp.co.uk/Contact.html #include <std_disclaimer.h>
