W98 serial server -> Linux

I need to feed the serial output of a remote instrument to a linux based
server, via an intranet. How do i manage that?

Currently the instrument sends its serial output to a W98 computer. The W98
computer runs a serial server program (TCPCOM), which tunnelizes the serial
data through the TCP stack.

On another PC workstation, another copy of TCPcom receives the TCP/IP data,
feeds them to a local virtual serial port, and i can display or analyze the
data reading from such com port.

Now i need to bypass the local PC workstation, and to feed the tunelized
serial data directly to a linuxbox. I have tried to watch the incoming data
opening a telnet session towards the serial server address and the
appropriate IP port, but i couldn't display any incoming data.

Eventually i will need to place the data into a mysql database. Before
writing the parsing and importing code, i need to examine the incoming raw
data. How do i do that?

TIA

A. Vincenzoni.

On 31 Dec 2005 18:40:13 +0100, Vincenzoni Attilio
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I need to feed the serial output of a remote instrument to a linux based
> server, via an intranet. How do i manage that?
>
> Currently the instrument sends its serial output to a W98 computer. The W98
> computer runs a serial server program (TCPCOM), which tunnelizes the serial
> data through the TCP stack.
>
Is it simple one-way serial data? Does the W98 computer do anything
else that can't be done in Linux?




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"Bill Marcum" <(E-Mail Removed)> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:rcbj83-(E-Mail Removed)...



>> I need to feed the serial output of a remote instrument to a linux based
>> server, via an intranet. How do i manage that?

> Is it simple one-way serial data?

yes.

> Does the W98 computer do anything else that can't be done in Linux?

no.


VA

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, (E-Mail Removed)
(Vincenzoni Attilio) writes:

> I need to feed the serial output of a remote instrument to a linux
> based server, via an intranet. How do i manage that?

Several commercial solutions exist in the form of buffer boxes
that accept data through a serial port and send it out over
an Ethernet interface. Check out the Scannex NetBuffer
(http://www.scannex.com) and the Lava Ether-Serial Link
product line (http://www.lavalink.com).

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"Charlie Gibbs" <(E-Mail Removed)> ha scritto nel messaggio


> Several commercial solutions exist in the form of buffer boxes
> that accept data through a serial port and send it out over
> an Ethernet interface.

Yes, I already have such a dedicated device, a Tibbo unit. Tibbo comes
complete with W and Linux "receiver" software. Most instruments however
already have a net wired computer nearby, so a software serial server would
generally be more desirable.

Vincenzoni Attilio <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> [...] a software serial server would generally be more desirable.

To read from a serial port and dump the data to a listening TCP port
10000 on a remote host called aardvark, try this:

nc aardvark 10000 </dev/ttySL0

To provide a telnettable port 10000 on the local host that a remote
client would connect to, try this:

nc -l -p 10000 -t </dev/ttySL0

Is this the sort of thing you're after?
Chris

<chris-(E-Mail Removed)> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:n5bt83-(E-Mail Removed)...


> nc aardvark 10000 </dev/ttySL0
> nc -l -p 10000 -t </dev/ttySL0

> Is this the sort of thing you're after?

Haven't tried your hint yet, but looks as if you are sharing the local ports
of the linux system here. Instead i need the linuxbox be the listener, not
the server.

The servers sharing their serial interface in my setting are the remote W98
machines. The linuxbox must be listening on port 1000 and act on the
incoming data.

I understand i need something as "virtual serial ports" under linux.

Tibbo technologies have a linux vspd (virtual serial port daemon) running at
startup, who collects the data sent by their "serial server" dedicated
devices. vspd presents the data to the OS as if they came from physical
local tty's.

I need something similar, working with a sender made of software running on
a remote PC.

ciao
VA

Vincenzoni Attilio <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Haven't tried your hint yet, but looks as if you are sharing the local ports
> of the linux system here. Instead i need the linuxbox be the listener, not
> the server.

> The servers sharing their serial interface in my setting are the remote W98
> machines. The linuxbox must be listening on port 1000 and act on the
> incoming data.

Ah. You want network traffic to be punted to the serial port?

I thought you had said you wanted data from the serial port to be made
available over the network, so those are the solutions I offered.

Try this, instead:

nc -l -p 1000 > /dev/ttySL0

> Tibbo technologies have a linux vspd (virtual serial port daemon) running at
> startup, who collects the data sent by their "serial server" dedicated
> devices. vspd presents the data to the OS as if they came from physical
> local tty's.

Now you've really confused me. You said you had unidirectional data. Do
you want it *from* the serial port to the network, or from the network
*to* a serial port?

Chris

<chris-(E-Mail Removed)> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:a1jv83-(E-Mail Removed)...

>> The servers sharing their serial interface in my setting are the remote
>> W98
>> machines. The linuxbox must be listening on port 1000 and act on the
>> incoming data.
>
> Ah. You want network traffic to be punted to the serial port?

Nope, i simply need to tunnelize small chunks of serial data coming from an
instrument, through an intranet. The instruments are connected on serial
lines to local PCs, which in turn are tapped into the intranet. The overall
schema is as follows:

Instrument -> Pc RS232 -> Pc TCP/IP ---> ethernet ---- > Linux TCP/IP ->
Linux RS232 -> linux app.

While the data flow unidirectionally, we have two symmetrical and specular
circumstances:

On the instrument side (platform: windows) the flow is from serial to
network. This is no problem, there are plenty of software "serial servers"
for the windows platform.

On the host side (platform: linux) the flow is from network "to the
application". I understand the typical way to do this, is not to read
directly the network flow, but to implement "virtual serial ports" instead.
Thus the linux application reads a serial interface which is actually a
virtual serial port, not a physical one.

> I thought you had said you wanted data from the serial port to be made
> available over the network, so those are the solutions I offered.

Yes, this is what i need on the remote side, the data generated by the
instrument enter the serial port of the remote PC and then walk over the
network. This is an issue i have solutions for. Notice we are speaking of
windows based solutions here.

> Now you've really confused me. You said you had unidirectional data. Do
> you want it *from* the serial port to the network, or from the network
> *to* a serial port?

See the above diagram, hope this explain. On the linux side, where i am
having problems, the flow is from network to app, or preferably from network
to a virtual serial device.

The advantages of having a virtual serial port is that an application would
read the rs232 data from the instrument, irrespective if the instrument is
local or remote. You can develop the app locally, and then remotize the
instrument. Or plainly redirect the serial port to a logfile, and then parse
the logfile and populate a database, etc.

I have a coarse understanding of what i need, on a block basis. I don't have
a fine insight in the innerworkings. I understand that the [serial 2
network] and [network 2 serial] conversions must be symmetrical, and
eventually supplied by the same vendor. Now many vendors have all-Windows
solutions (from serial to network and vice-versa), few have cross-platform
solutions (serial 2 network on windows, network 2 serial on linux).

A possible workaround would be to install a windows based concentrator
side-by-side the linux host, which could accumulate the serial data flowing
in from the net and then pass them to the linux host. I have set up a
prototype this way, but i dont' like it, i'd rather go to the linux host
directly.

thank you for you kind cooperation, ciao!

VA

Vincenzoni Attilio wrote:
> I need to feed the serial output of a remote instrument to a linux based
> server, via an intranet. How do i manage that?
>
> Currently the instrument sends its serial output to a W98 computer. The W98
> computer runs a serial server program (TCPCOM), which tunnelizes the serial
> data through the TCP stack.
>
> On another PC workstation, another copy of TCPcom receives the TCP/IP data,
> feeds them to a local virtual serial port, and i can display or analyze the
> data reading from such com port.
>
> Now i need to bypass the local PC workstation, and to feed the tunelized
> serial data directly to a linuxbox. I have tried to watch the incoming data
> opening a telnet session towards the serial server address and the
> appropriate IP port, but i couldn't display any incoming data.
>
> Eventually i will need to place the data into a mysql database. Before
> writing the parsing and importing code, i need to examine the incoming raw
> data. How do i do that?
>
> TIA
>
> A. Vincenzoni.
>
>
>
>

Hello

I do read the other posting. The pppd does such a thing. On one side
there is the network and on the other side it provides a pseudo tty.

Are you familiar with programming such a thing?

BR
Hans-Juergen Lange