[U-Boot] is minicom still discouraged as the serial comms program?

[U-Boot] is minicom still discouraged as the serial comms program?

[Robert P. J. Day]

  i know that minicom has been discouraged for quite some time WRT
u-boot, is that still the case? and what was the flaw with minicom,
anyway? and is there any problem with picocom, which seems to work for
me just fine.

rday

-- 

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                                 Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
                        http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
LinkedIn:                               http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
========================================================================

[U-Boot] is minicom still discouraged as the serial comms program?

[Tom Rini]

On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 06:52:38AM -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote:

>   i know that minicom has been discouraged for quite some time WRT
> u-boot, is that still the case? and what was the flaw with minicom,
> anyway? and is there any problem with picocom, which seems to work for
> me just fine.

As far as I know there's no real problem with minicom, just that it's a
pain to use in general, but that's just my opinion.

-- 
Tom
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[U-Boot] is minicom still discouraged as the serial comms program?

[Måns Rullgård]

Tom Rini <trini@konsulko.com> writes:

> On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 06:52:38AM -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
>
>>   i know that minicom has been discouraged for quite some time WRT
>> u-boot, is that still the case? and what was the flaw with minicom,
>> anyway? and is there any problem with picocom, which seems to work for
>> me just fine.
>
> As far as I know there's no real problem with minicom, just that it's a
> pain to use in general, but that's just my opinion.

It's an opinion shared by many.  Minicom appears to be mainly intended
for use with an actual modem, and when there isn't one involved, those
features tend to get in the way.

-- 
M?ns Rullg?rd

[U-Boot] is minicom still discouraged as the serial comms program?

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Robert,

In message <alpine.LFD.2.20.1607160651190.4670@localhost.localdomain> you wrote:
> 
>   i know that minicom has been discouraged for quite some time WRT
> u-boot, is that still the case?

The recommendation to avoid minicom even predates U-Boot; it comes
from the time when it was still called PPCBoot, way back then...

I can't tell if it has gotten any better now; after getting burned
often enough I never tried it again.  There is only a certain amount
of pain I can stand ;-)

> and what was the flaw with minicom, anyway?

In sort, it does not work reliably.  Especially when it comes to using
the console for serial downloads.  IIRC it was basically impossible to
get S-record download working reliably (only "cu" would work like a
charm in all configurations), and similar issues were with kermit
binary protocol (and I cannot see any reason for not using kermit in
all use cases; IMHO is't still the most reliable and flexible tool).
Plus there were a ton of other nuissances - copy & paste of longer
text lines would have surprising effects; funny line wrap modes would
confuse the user etc. etc.

> and is there any problem with picocom, which seems to work for
> me just fine.

Never tried that.

I haven't been using S-record download for more than a decade, but if
I had, I would probably use "cu" before trying anything else.  For all
other purposes I use kermit.

[Kermit has the additional benefit that it can create network
connections using rlogin etc., so you can attach to terminal servers
in the same way as to regular serial ports, which gives a single tool
and a common interface to all kinds of connections.  That's _nice_.]

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,      Managing Director: Wolfgang Denk
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
Anarchy may not be the best form of government, but it's better  than
no government at all.

[U-Boot] is minicom still discouraged as the serial comms program?

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear M?ns,

In message <yw1x8tx1fyhx.fsf@unicorn.mansr.com> you wrote:
>
> It's an opinion shared by many.  Minicom appears to be mainly intended
> for use with an actual modem, and when there isn't one involved, those
> features tend to get in the way.

Right - now you mention it I remember that minicom at least in some
default installations issues a set of AT modem commands when
connecting to a serial line, which have caused funny effects with
U-Boot here and there...

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,      Managing Director: Wolfgang Denk
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
Monday is an awful way to spend one seventh of your life.

[U-Boot] is minicom still discouraged as the serial comms program?

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Mon, 18 Jul 2016, Wolfgang Denk wrote:

> Dear M?ns,
>
> In message <yw1x8tx1fyhx.fsf@unicorn.mansr.com> you wrote:
> >
> > It's an opinion shared by many.  Minicom appears to be mainly intended
> > for use with an actual modem, and when there isn't one involved, those
> > features tend to get in the way.
>
> Right - now you mention it I remember that minicom at least in some
> default installations issues a set of AT modem commands when
> connecting to a serial line, which have caused funny effects with
> U-Boot here and there...

  ah, that makes sense. so far, i've used picocom almost exclusively
and never had a problem. i am unaware of picocom issuing any AT
commands.

rday

-- 

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                                 Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
                        http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
LinkedIn:                               http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
========================================================================