FTDI serial console support?

FTDI serial console support?

[Petter Gustad]

Is there a way to specify a FTDI based serial console using
GRUB_TERMINAL, GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND, or some other variable? If yes,
what is the syntax?

BTW my serial port adapter matches the vendor id and device id given
in grub-core/bus/usb/serial/ftdi.c:

Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC

Thanks!
Best regards
//Petter

Re: FTDI serial console support?

[Daniel Kiper]

On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 03:55:36PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>
> Is there a way to specify a FTDI based serial console using
> GRUB_TERMINAL, GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND, or some other variable? If yes,
> what is the syntax?
>
> BTW my serial port adapter matches the vendor id and device id given
> in grub-core/bus/usb/serial/ftdi.c:
>
> Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC

Have you tried usbserial_ftdi, e.g. GRUB_TERMINAL=usbserial_ftdi?
Just guessing...

Daniel

Re: FTDI serial console support?

[Petter Gustad]

From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
Date: Tue, 15 May 2018 22:00:06 +0200

> On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 03:55:36PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>>
>> Is there a way to specify a FTDI based serial console using
>> GRUB_TERMINAL, GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND, or some other variable? If yes,
>> what is the syntax?
>>
>> BTW my serial port adapter matches the vendor id and device id given
>> in grub-core/bus/usb/serial/ftdi.c:
>>
>> Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC
> 
> Have you tried usbserial_ftdi, e.g. GRUB_TERMINAL=usbserial_ftdi?
> Just guessing...

Yes, I tried (as I found the "usbserial_ftdi" string in the source)
the but grub-mkconfig does not accecpt it:

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Invalid output terminal "usbserial_ftdi"

Currently I have this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="console=tty0 console=ttyUSB0,115200n8"
#GRUB_TERMINAL="console serial"
GRUB_TERMINAL="serial"
GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND="usbserial_ftdi --speed=115200 --unit=0 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1"

But this does not seem to work either, even though I do get console
output on my USB serial after the kernel has loaded (due to
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX being passed to the kernel), e.g. I can do "echo
hello > /dev/console" and read "hello" on the USB serial output. When
I do a "reboot" I observe messages about unmounting filesystems etc.

I was hoping to be able to select kernels and options in grub using
the USB serial line.

Best regards
//Petter

Re: FTDI serial console support?

[Daniel Kiper]

On Wed, May 16, 2018 at 06:21:17AM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
> Date: Tue, 15 May 2018 22:00:06 +0200
>
> > On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 03:55:36PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
> >>
> >> Is there a way to specify a FTDI based serial console using
> >> GRUB_TERMINAL, GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND, or some other variable? If yes,
> >> what is the syntax?
> >>
> >> BTW my serial port adapter matches the vendor id and device id given
> >> in grub-core/bus/usb/serial/ftdi.c:
> >>
> >> Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC
> >
> > Have you tried usbserial_ftdi, e.g. GRUB_TERMINAL=usbserial_ftdi?
> > Just guessing...
>
> Yes, I tried (as I found the "usbserial_ftdi" string in the source)
> the but grub-mkconfig does not accecpt it:
>
> grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
> Invalid output terminal "usbserial_ftdi"
>
> Currently I have this:
>
> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="console=tty0 console=ttyUSB0,115200n8"
> #GRUB_TERMINAL="console serial"
> GRUB_TERMINAL="serial"
> GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND="usbserial_ftdi --speed=115200 --unit=0 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1"
>
> But this does not seem to work either, even though I do get console
> output on my USB serial after the kernel has loaded (due to
> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX being passed to the kernel), e.g. I can do "echo
> hello > /dev/console" and read "hello" on the USB serial output. When
> I do a "reboot" I observe messages about unmounting filesystems etc.
>
> I was hoping to be able to select kernels and options in grub using
> the USB serial line.

Please take a look here:
  https://www.coreboot.org/GRUB2#On_a_USB_serial_or_USB_debug_adapter

I hope that helps.

Daniel

Re: FTDI serial console support?

[Petter Gustad]

From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
Date: Wed, 16 May 2018 11:32:19 +0200

> On Wed, May 16, 2018 at 06:21:17AM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
>> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
>> Date: Tue, 15 May 2018 22:00:06 +0200
>>
>> > On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 03:55:36PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Is there a way to specify a FTDI based serial console using
>> >> GRUB_TERMINAL, GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND, or some other variable? If yes,
>> >> what is the syntax?
>> >>
>> >> BTW my serial port adapter matches the vendor id and device id given
>> >> in grub-core/bus/usb/serial/ftdi.c:
>> >>
>> >> Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC
>> >
>> > Have you tried usbserial_ftdi, e.g. GRUB_TERMINAL=usbserial_ftdi?
>> > Just guessing...
>>
>> Yes, I tried (as I found the "usbserial_ftdi" string in the source)
>> the but grub-mkconfig does not accecpt it:
>>
>> grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
>> Invalid output terminal "usbserial_ftdi"
>>
>> Currently I have this:
>>
>> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="console=tty0 console=ttyUSB0,115200n8"
>> #GRUB_TERMINAL="console serial"
>> GRUB_TERMINAL="serial"
>> GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND="usbserial_ftdi --speed=115200 --unit=0 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1"
>>
>> But this does not seem to work either, even though I do get console
>> output on my USB serial after the kernel has loaded (due to
>> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX being passed to the kernel), e.g. I can do "echo
>> hello > /dev/console" and read "hello" on the USB serial output. When
>> I do a "reboot" I observe messages about unmounting filesystems etc.
>>
>> I was hoping to be able to select kernels and options in grub using
>> the USB serial line.
> 
> Please take a look here:
>   https://www.coreboot.org/GRUB2#On_a_USB_serial_or_USB_debug_adapter
> 
> I hope that helps.

Thank you for the link.

Unfortunately, it seems like my system can't access the hard disk
after running "insmod ehci" despite doing "insmod nativedisk" first.
Some of subsequent insmod commands will fail when accessing the disk
and I'm not able to boot linux either.

Best regards
//Petter

Re: FTDI serial console support?

[Daniel Kiper]

On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 01:01:41PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
> Date: Wed, 16 May 2018 11:32:19 +0200
>
> > On Wed, May 16, 2018 at 06:21:17AM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
> >> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
> >> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
> >> Date: Tue, 15 May 2018 22:00:06 +0200
> >>
> >> > On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 03:55:36PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> Is there a way to specify a FTDI based serial console using
> >> >> GRUB_TERMINAL, GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND, or some other variable? If yes,
> >> >> what is the syntax?
> >> >>
> >> >> BTW my serial port adapter matches the vendor id and device id given
> >> >> in grub-core/bus/usb/serial/ftdi.c:
> >> >>
> >> >> Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC
> >> >
> >> > Have you tried usbserial_ftdi, e.g. GRUB_TERMINAL=usbserial_ftdi?
> >> > Just guessing...
> >>
> >> Yes, I tried (as I found the "usbserial_ftdi" string in the source)
> >> the but grub-mkconfig does not accecpt it:
> >>
> >> grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
> >> Invalid output terminal "usbserial_ftdi"
> >>
> >> Currently I have this:
> >>
> >> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="console=tty0 console=ttyUSB0,115200n8"
> >> #GRUB_TERMINAL="console serial"
> >> GRUB_TERMINAL="serial"
> >> GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND="usbserial_ftdi --speed=115200 --unit=0 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1"
> >>
> >> But this does not seem to work either, even though I do get console
> >> output on my USB serial after the kernel has loaded (due to
> >> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX being passed to the kernel), e.g. I can do "echo
> >> hello > /dev/console" and read "hello" on the USB serial output. When
> >> I do a "reboot" I observe messages about unmounting filesystems etc.
> >>
> >> I was hoping to be able to select kernels and options in grub using
> >> the USB serial line.
> >
> > Please take a look here:
> >   https://www.coreboot.org/GRUB2#On_a_USB_serial_or_USB_debug_adapter
> >
> > I hope that helps.
>
> Thank you for the link.
>
> Unfortunately, it seems like my system can't access the hard disk
> after running "insmod ehci" despite doing "insmod nativedisk" first.
> Some of subsequent insmod commands will fail when accessing the disk
> and I'm not able to boot linux either.

Could you just do "insmod usbserial_ftdi"? There is a chance that it
will pull in all needed dependencies without breaking disk access.

Daniel

Re: FTDI serial console support?

[Petter Gustad]

From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
Date: Fri, 18 May 2018 13:55:55 +0200

> On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 01:01:41PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
>> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
>> Date: Wed, 16 May 2018 11:32:19 +0200
>>
>> > On Wed, May 16, 2018 at 06:21:17AM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>> >> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
>> >> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
>> >> Date: Tue, 15 May 2018 22:00:06 +0200
>> >>
>> >> > On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 03:55:36PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Is there a way to specify a FTDI based serial console using
>> >> >> GRUB_TERMINAL, GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND, or some other variable? If yes,
>> >> >> what is the syntax?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> BTW my serial port adapter matches the vendor id and device id given
>> >> >> in grub-core/bus/usb/serial/ftdi.c:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0403:6001 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT232 Serial (UART) IC
>> >> >
>> >> > Have you tried usbserial_ftdi, e.g. GRUB_TERMINAL=usbserial_ftdi?
>> >> > Just guessing...
>> >>
>> >> Yes, I tried (as I found the "usbserial_ftdi" string in the source)
>> >> the but grub-mkconfig does not accecpt it:
>> >>
>> >> grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
>> >> Invalid output terminal "usbserial_ftdi"
>> >>
>> >> Currently I have this:
>> >>
>> >> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="console=tty0 console=ttyUSB0,115200n8"
>> >> #GRUB_TERMINAL="console serial"
>> >> GRUB_TERMINAL="serial"
>> >> GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND="usbserial_ftdi --speed=115200 --unit=0 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1"
>> >>
>> >> But this does not seem to work either, even though I do get console
>> >> output on my USB serial after the kernel has loaded (due to
>> >> GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX being passed to the kernel), e.g. I can do "echo
>> >> hello > /dev/console" and read "hello" on the USB serial output. When
>> >> I do a "reboot" I observe messages about unmounting filesystems etc.
>> >>
>> >> I was hoping to be able to select kernels and options in grub using
>> >> the USB serial line.
>> >
>> > Please take a look here:
>> >   https://www.coreboot.org/GRUB2#On_a_USB_serial_or_USB_debug_adapter
>> >
>> > I hope that helps.
>>
>> Thank you for the link.
>>
>> Unfortunately, it seems like my system can't access the hard disk
>> after running "insmod ehci" despite doing "insmod nativedisk" first.
>> Some of subsequent insmod commands will fail when accessing the disk
>> and I'm not able to boot linux either.
> 
> Could you just do "insmod usbserial_ftdi"? There is a chance that it
> will pull in all needed dependencies without breaking disk access.

Thanks. Only "insmod usbserial_ftdi" does work in the sense that it
will not break disk access. I also managed to load grub using PXE/tftp
where I was not dependend upon disk access.

But in both cases it does not work like in the coreboot URL above.
After do insmod on usbserial_ftdi and usbserial_usbdebug the
terminal_output command will only return console as its active output
terminal. It will list serial_* as available output terminals, but I
can't select usb0, usb1, etc as argument to the serial command.

Best regards
//Petter

Re: FTDI serial console support?

[Andrew Worsley]

On 19 May 2018 at 00:32, Petter Gustad <grub@gustad.com> wrote:
> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
> Date: Fri, 18 May 2018 13:55:55 +0200
>
>> On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 01:01:41PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>>> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
>>> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
>>> Date: Wed, 16 May 2018 11:32:19 +0200
>>>
>>> > On Wed, May 16, 2018 at 06:21:17AM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>>> >> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
>>> >> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
>>> >> Date: Tue, 15 May 2018 22:00:06 +0200
>>> >>
>>> >> > On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 03:55:36PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>>> >> >>
>>> >> >> Is there a way to specify a FTDI based serial console using
>>> >> >> GRUB_TERMINAL, GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND, or some other variable? If yes,
>>> >> >> what is the syntax?
>>> >> >>
>>> >> >> BTW my serial port adapter matches the vendor id and device id given
>>> >> >> in grub-core/bus/usb/serial/ftdi.c:
>>> >> >>
....
>> Could you just do "insmod usbserial_ftdi"? There is a chance that it
>> will pull in all needed dependencies without breaking disk access.
>
> Thanks. Only "insmod usbserial_ftdi" does work in the sense that it
> will not break disk access. I also managed to load grub using PXE/tftp
> where I was not dependend upon disk access.
>
> But in both cases it does not work like in the coreboot URL above.
> After do insmod on usbserial_ftdi and usbserial_usbdebug the
> terminal_output command will only return console as its active output
> terminal. It will list serial_* as available output terminals, but I
> can't select usb0, usb1, etc as argument to the serial command.

I think GRUB relies on the BIOS/UEIF to provide drivers and typically
USB  was only
used to emulated old hardware like keyboard/mouse  and CD-ROMs.

Coreboot - is a BIOS/UEIF replacement and so it can do anything they
care to implement - but then it has to be
customised for each individual hardware case where as GRUB can rely on
the standardised routines.

But perhaps things have moved on - it would be great if UEIF provided
some standard USB drivers for serial.

Andrew

Re: FTDI serial console support?

[Petter Gustad]

From: Andrew Worsley <amworsley@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
Date: Sat, 19 May 2018 23:12:42 +1000

> On 19 May 2018 at 00:32, Petter Gustad <grub@gustad.com> wrote:
>> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
>> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
>> Date: Fri, 18 May 2018 13:55:55 +0200
>>
>>> On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 01:01:41PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>>>> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
>>>> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
>>>> Date: Wed, 16 May 2018 11:32:19 +0200
>>>>
>>>> > On Wed, May 16, 2018 at 06:21:17AM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>>>> >> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
>>>> >> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
>>>> >> Date: Tue, 15 May 2018 22:00:06 +0200
>>>> >>
>>>> >> > On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 03:55:36PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
>>>> >> >>
>>>> >> >> Is there a way to specify a FTDI based serial console using
>>>> >> >> GRUB_TERMINAL, GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND, or some other variable? If yes,
>>>> >> >> what is the syntax?
>>>> >> >>
>>>> >> >> BTW my serial port adapter matches the vendor id and device id given
>>>> >> >> in grub-core/bus/usb/serial/ftdi.c:
>>>> >> >>
> ....
>>> Could you just do "insmod usbserial_ftdi"? There is a chance that it
>>> will pull in all needed dependencies without breaking disk access.
>>
>> Thanks. Only "insmod usbserial_ftdi" does work in the sense that it
>> will not break disk access. I also managed to load grub using PXE/tftp
>> where I was not dependend upon disk access.
>>
>> But in both cases it does not work like in the coreboot URL above.
>> After do insmod on usbserial_ftdi and usbserial_usbdebug the
>> terminal_output command will only return console as its active output
>> terminal. It will list serial_* as available output terminals, but I
>> can't select usb0, usb1, etc as argument to the serial command.
> 
> I think GRUB relies on the BIOS/UEIF to provide drivers and typically
> USB  was only
> used to emulated old hardware like keyboard/mouse  and CD-ROMs.
> 
> Coreboot - is a BIOS/UEIF replacement and so it can do anything they
> care to implement - but then it has to be
> customised for each individual hardware case where as GRUB can rely on
> the standardised routines.
> 
> But perhaps things have moved on - it would be great if UEIF provided
> some standard USB drivers for serial.

Thank you Andrew and Daniel for information and suggestions. Seems
like I have to figure out what drivers are provided with UEIF. Or
simply just get another motherboard with a 8250/16550 compatible
serial port.

Best regards
//Petter

Re: FTDI serial console support?

[Daniel Kiper]

On Sat, May 26, 2018 at 07:21:24AM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
> From: Andrew Worsley <amworsley@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
> Date: Sat, 19 May 2018 23:12:42 +1000
>
> > On 19 May 2018 at 00:32, Petter Gustad <grub@gustad.com> wrote:
> >> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
> >> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
> >> Date: Fri, 18 May 2018 13:55:55 +0200
> >>
> >>> On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 01:01:41PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
> >>>> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
> >>>> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
> >>>> Date: Wed, 16 May 2018 11:32:19 +0200
> >>>>
> >>>> > On Wed, May 16, 2018 at 06:21:17AM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
> >>>> >> From: Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl>
> >>>> >> Subject: Re: FTDI serial console support?
> >>>> >> Date: Tue, 15 May 2018 22:00:06 +0200
> >>>> >>
> >>>> >> > On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 03:55:36PM +0200, Petter Gustad wrote:
> >>>> >> >>
> >>>> >> >> Is there a way to specify a FTDI based serial console using
> >>>> >> >> GRUB_TERMINAL, GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND, or some other variable? If yes,
> >>>> >> >> what is the syntax?
> >>>> >> >>
> >>>> >> >> BTW my serial port adapter matches the vendor id and device id given
> >>>> >> >> in grub-core/bus/usb/serial/ftdi.c:
> >>>> >> >>
> > ....
> >>> Could you just do "insmod usbserial_ftdi"? There is a chance that it
> >>> will pull in all needed dependencies without breaking disk access.
> >>
> >> Thanks. Only "insmod usbserial_ftdi" does work in the sense that it
> >> will not break disk access. I also managed to load grub using PXE/tftp
> >> where I was not dependend upon disk access.
> >>
> >> But in both cases it does not work like in the coreboot URL above.
> >> After do insmod on usbserial_ftdi and usbserial_usbdebug the
> >> terminal_output command will only return console as its active output
> >> terminal. It will list serial_* as available output terminals, but I
> >> can't select usb0, usb1, etc as argument to the serial command.
> >
> > I think GRUB relies on the BIOS/UEIF to provide drivers and typically
> > USB  was only
> > used to emulated old hardware like keyboard/mouse  and CD-ROMs.
> >
> > Coreboot - is a BIOS/UEIF replacement and so it can do anything they
> > care to implement - but then it has to be
> > customised for each individual hardware case where as GRUB can rely on
> > the standardised routines.
> >
> > But perhaps things have moved on - it would be great if UEIF provided
> > some standard USB drivers for serial.
>
> Thank you Andrew and Daniel for information and suggestions. Seems

You are welcome!

> like I have to figure out what drivers are provided with UEIF. Or
> simply just get another motherboard with a 8250/16550 compatible
> serial port.

I think that this is the simplest solution at this point. Anyway,
I will try to take a look at this issue when I less busy.

Daniel