[TriLUG] Way for linux to access serial port on MS machine. (possibly OT)

[Ed Hill]

On Fri, 2003-05-16 at 11:19, Mike Norwood wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> At the risk of frightening people again by mentioning Windows, I wonder if 
> anyone is aware of anyway to access a device on a serial port on a Windows 
> machine from Linux.  Ideally some way to create a /dev/something on the 
> linux machine that would map to one of the serial ports on the other 
> machine.  Has anyone ever needed something like this or come across a way 
> to do it?  I am trying to figure a way to access a signature capture pad 
> that is attached to the Windows machine from the Linux machine. I can access
> it fine if directly attached to a Linux serial port, but there is a 
> Windows PC in the perfect location for the signature capture device, and I 
> am out of serial ports on the Linux system.  The windows and Linux machine 
> would be networked together.


Hi Mike,

I've written literally dozens of user-space serial port drivers for both
Linux and Windows for everything from simple digital scales to highly
complicated motor systems and X-ray spectrometers:

  http://cesep.mines.edu/facilities.htm

And I'm not aware of any Windows software that does quite what you
describe above.  However, there are dedicated serial-to-ethernet
hardware solutions such as:

  http://www.netserial.net/products_nport.htm


But are you sure you can't just buy a PCI serial port card for your
Linux box and connect it directly?  There are numerous manufacturers who
make PCI serial port add-on cards that work well with Linux and cost
less than $50:

  http://www.siig.com
  http://www.softio.com/map950pcidual16950rev_3.htm

and serial cables can easily extend beyond 25ft.

The question then becomes: do you have a Linux driver for whatever sort
of serial device it is that you're using?

If the device isn't too strange or complicated, I can probably write or
help you write a driver for it over a weekend.

Ed


-- 
Edward H. Hill III, PhD 
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Division of ESE, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401
Email: ed at eh3.com  ehill at mines.edu
Phone: 303-273-3483
URLs:  http://cesep.mines.edu/people/hill.htm  http://eh3.com
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