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Last article I talked about using a dos disk to access some terminal software. Here is a disk that is allegedly pure linux to act as a terminal. It seemed to work on the old 486 laptop connected to the arch linux based pogoplug, though I did not check it out completely. About: PiTuX is a floppy based Linux distro that turns an old, low-RAM, machine in a very useful serial terminal running minicom. Think about your old laptop as a pure VT102 . Features: PiTuX boots from a floppy and runs completely in ram so you can even have a diskless PC. New: persistent configuration! Configure minicom as you need and if you want you can have config files stored and saved over reboots. It works from 386, without math coprocessor, up and NEEDS ONLY 4 MB RAM . It doesn't have any kind of support for hard disks so it will not mess up data on them Most 386 and 486 can run even without a fan so you can have a ...

If you set up your serial port for communications and have a serial terminal (some systems may require a usb adapter), you will never worry about not having a monitor for emergencies. (Connecting in this case to an nslu2 running linux.)   Notes from an earlier article to set up serial communication, Your system may vary. Now to get the Pda working with the unit. The Palm pda will not work as is as a dumb terminal, so I had to install a program on to it from another computer called ptelnet.prc using a usb to serial interface. The Palm has an interface cable that will plug directly into the 9 pin serial port on the back of the computer. HP Journa has a standard rs232 port. $  pilot-xfer -p /dev/ttyUSB0 -i ptelnet.prc That should be easy. First to test the port. Strange the serial port on what is commonly known as com2:. (com1: =ttyS0) $ sudo /sbin/getty -h -L /dev/ttyS1 9600 vt100 & $ sudo chmod 666 /dev/ttyS1 A prompt did not show up on the Palm pda. ...

Decided to put some old heat sensors work with linux via Digitemp. The command names have changed a bit. From two of the more popular sites: (note: 25 pin connectors will use different connections.) http://hacknmod.com/tag/serial-port/ http://hackaday.com/tag/serial-port/ http://martybugs.net/electronics/tempsensor/ Temperature sensing with linux:  http://pihost.us/~stacato/digitemp/ You should be able to install digitemp from the repo without have to download the software and manually installing it. Debian based: $ sudo apt-get install digitemp Fedora based: $ sudo yum install digitemp ——————————————————- $ sudo apt-get digitemp Once inststalled You can use $ sudo digitemp_DS9097u -s /dev/ttyUSB0 -w “ Now, to read the temperatures. You’ll want the digitemp package, which is pre-packaged in Debian and probably most other Linux distributions. Once it’s installed, you’ll need to know what program to use. Several are available for different DS masters, but...

Was thinking the other day on how to use older equipment with linux. Once very simple idea was to connect to the serial ports (aka rs232) using an old fashioned modem or terminal program. Granted there will not be the gui (graphical user interface). There are some very fine programs for use with the command line. I have mentioned these before, but it will not hurt to mention them again. We have already talked about networking with xrdp and ltsp . Now, this is a very good way to use older equipment. Especially in an emergency. Knowledge of using the command line is required. Mouse jockeys need not apply. I say that with affection. Most Unix/Linux are set up to connect to the serial ports automatically. Some versions of linux prefer you use a usb to serial connector for communication though. Actually you could do this with a Microsoft based system also. (different application software such as old dos programs would have to be used. Note: Experience at cable making is...