Connecting the chassis to an ASCII terminal console

About the ASCII terminal console

The ASCII terminal console enables you to monitor the boot process and helps you configure the chassis after it boots. You must use an ASCII terminal attached through the serial port on the back of the chassis if you want to do local system administration.

Note
Make sure that you are using an ASCII terminal console attached to the chassis serial port, and that the display length is set to 25 lines.

ASCII terminal console cable wiring

The ASCII terminal console is connected to the chassis with a DB-9 serial cable through the serial port on the back of the chassis. The following table lists how the DB-9 serial cable is wired. Input indicates data flow from the ASCII terminal to the chassis and output indicates data flow from the chassis to the ASCII terminal.

Pin number	Signal	Data flow direction	Description
1	DCD	Input	Data carrier detect
2	SIN	Input	Serial input
3	SOUT	Output	Serial output
4	DTR	Output	Data terminal ready
5	GND	N/A	Signal ground
6	DSR	Input	Data set ready
7	RTS	Output	Request to send
8	CTS	Input	Clear to send
9	RI	Input	Ring indicator

Connecting to an ASCII terminal console

To connect an ASCII terminal console to the chassis, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	Set the following communications parameters to the same values for both the chassis and ASCII terminal.
	Parameter	Setting
	Baud	9600
	Data bit	8
	Parity	None
	Stop bits	1
	Flow control	None
	Note See your terminal documentation for information about changing your ASCII console terminal settings.
2	Connect the DB-9 serial cable to the Console port on the chassis and to the ASCII terminal. The following illustration shows the location of the Console port.
3	Set the console display line length to exactly 25 lines.