Is there a terminal emulator (like PuTTY) on the DigiPi image?

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Think Survival

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Apr 11, 2024, 12:49:48 AM4/11/24
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hey Craig,

I'm not sure how to search for this. I'm looking to access the "terminal applications mode" on a QRP Labs QDX radio. On other computers I have used the PuTTY terminal emulator for this. Since I have the QDX connected to a DigiPi now, I'd like to find a way to access the QDX's terminal mode through the DigiPi.

I'm looking for a simple program that can connect to a serial port (e.g. /dev/ttyACM1).

I've opened the Shell in DigiPi and poked around a bit in /usr/bin, but I don't know which of those programs would fit the bill – any of them?

Thank you!

Tilman D Thulesius

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Apr 11, 2024, 1:34:08 AM4/11/24
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You can go into "Shell" and do some terminal things. 

UID "pi"
PWD "raspberry"

If you have not changed it.

From there you can run "ssh" into other hosts if you need so.

Have fun

Craig

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Apr 11, 2024, 9:26:12 AM4/11/24
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If you need an old-school modem/serial terminal, I've used minicom with success,

sudo remount
sudo apt-get install minicom


-craig
KM6LYW
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Doug Reed, N0NAS.

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Apr 11, 2024, 9:40:57 AM4/11/24
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If all you want is a dead simple serial program, I highly recommend gkterm. You should be able to install it from the online repositories using Synaptic or another installer. I played with the other serial terminal programs but they were all more complex and had extra features I didn't want. Gkterm only uses 322KB when installed. I found it very simple to use, easy to select ports, data rates, send & receive fies, and logging to a file. I use the "end of line delay" feature to send a text file of commands to a TNC so I can setup the TNC for APRS or packet BBS after a hard reset. Gkterm should be exactly what you need to use the QDX command mode. I'm pretty sure I used it to program some QRP-Labs ProgRock boards.

73, Doug Reed, N0NAS.

Doug Reed, N0NAS.

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Apr 11, 2024, 9:46:29 AM4/11/24
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Sorry, should be gtkterm, not gkterm.
And Craig's install method will work just fine....
sudo remount
sudo apt-get install gtkterm


Doug.

Think Survival

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Apr 11, 2024, 2:36:30 PM4/11/24
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Great, thanks for the suggestions! I was hesitant to install other programs to the DigiPi image (for stability/maintainability), but it worked like a charm.

Minicom worked because it is happy running within the existing shell window. After installing it, this was the simple command line to make the connection (did not have to specify the baud even):

minicom -D /dev/ttyACM0


I tried Gkterm as well, but did not work. It gave these errors:

Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused
(gtkterm:24918): Gtk-WARNING **: 11:31:58.993: cannot open display: 


It seems like maybe it wanted to open in a separate window? Which would presumably be awkward or not possible under the non-desktop environment of DigiPi? I'm not sure, I'm not super fluent with how Linux systems work.

Doug Reed

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Apr 11, 2024, 3:01:54 PM4/11/24
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OK, I have no clue about the error.
I installed gtkterm on my local laptop just fine. When I execute, it
does try to open another window. That worked for me, but it did fail
because I haven't added 'dialout' group to my user account yet. But
that should already be set for the user on DigiPi. If minicomm is
working for you, go for it. It was my preferred option before I found
gtkterm.
Doug.

Think Survival

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Apr 11, 2024, 4:28:46 PM4/11/24
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Ah, found another good one: "screen"

For the QDX terminal mode, "screen" is preferable, because it does color output. The QDX does several graphs in ANSI chars that are unreadable without color.

The one little catch is that in the bottom corner, it says "Ctrl-Q" to quit out of each terminal mode program. But in actuality I needed to use an escape sequence of Control + A, followed by Qfor it to respond.

Think Survival

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Apr 11, 2024, 4:51:17 PM4/11/24
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Oh, and then to exit the screen program itself, use the Control + A escape sequence again, this time followed by Z

Aaron Webb

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Apr 12, 2024, 8:57:34 AM4/12/24
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Hi,

Not Craig but I may be able to help.  

You can use screen in the terminal or minicom. There is a bit of a learning curve for each but you may have already ran across them in the past since you're semi familiar with poking around in the terminal. 

Seriously though,  if you have an issue, chatgpt can write you a step by step to help you. 

Hope it helps, 

Aaron


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