When you connect via direct serial cable, you may see incorrect, but readable, text instead of a login prompt. This generally happens when a process is still running on the serial port, which is usually caused by closing the emulator before logging out. The cause can be human error, power loss or something else.

To fix the problem, if possible get to a system prompt and log out. Otherwise, you’ll need to kill the process from the server itself, rather than from your workstation. Once the process has ended, you’ll see a login prompt the next time you connect.

With default settings, TinyTERM 3.2 does not appear to respond to serial connections. To get it to connect properly, you will need to edit the .tap connection file and change four lines:

• exitdtr=ON needs to change to OFF
• ddtr=ON needs to change to OFF
• dtr=OFF needs to change to ON
• rts=OFF needs to change to ON

Save the file after this. TinyTERM will connect properly after that.

TinyTERM versions through 4.50 are hard-coded to use COM1 through COM6. While it’s possible to have more serial ports on a Windows PC, those versions of TinyTERM won’t be able to use them.

TinyTERM versions 4.52 and higher have no hard-coded serial ports. Instead, they request a list of available ports from Windows. Note that ports currently in use by other applications are not considered available. So the “Available devices” list in TinyTERM may not reflect all installed serial ports.

Regardless of the version of TinyTERM, COM ports above COM9 are not recognized in CScript. Only COM1 through COM9 can be accessed through the te.ComPort property.

CR 182, fixed in TinyTERM 4.52
CR 832, te.ComPort

When you are connected to a modem and manually entering commands, it may display OK when you type, but not echo your commands back. Or it may not display anything.

This indicates the modem is in silent mode. To change that, type the following and hit Enter:

ATE1Q0

This will deactivate silent mode on most modems. If it does not work, check your modem documentation for more information.

When making an RS232 serial connection in TinyTERM 4.20, you will need to set all three flow control options in most cases. To do that, go to the Edit menu and select Session Properties. Next to the COM port is a Setup button. Click that to get to the flow control options. Make sure all three are checked, then save the settings.

CR 257, fixed in TinyTERM 4.21

PCs without serial ports are increasingly common. If you need to make a serial connection with one, you’ll need a device that adds a serial port to the system. USB adapters are the most common.

Once the drivers for the adapter are installed, you’ll see a new serial port on your system. Configure TERM or TinyTERM to use it as you would any other device.

Some versions of TinyTERM are not compatible with all such adapters. There is no patch in that case. You will need to upgrade TinyTERM instead.

CR 509, fixed in TinyTERM 4.52

Sometimes your emulation display will have extraneous characters mixed in with readable text. You might also see a situation where none of the characters are readable.

When you connect using a modem or direct serial cable, but none of the characters are readable, this always means the communication settings are off. Check for the correct baud rate, word length, parity and stop bits, based on the host port configuration. Change the settings in TERM or TinyTERM to match.

If all the settings match, then there is an incompatibility between the two modems. If possible, update the drivers for both. Otherwise, one or both will need to be replaced.

If the login prompt comes up correctly, but not everything is readable after you log in, this means the terminal emulation type is set wrong. Usually there will be extra nonsense characters between the correct ones. You may also have alignment problems with text.

Check your .profile or equivalent on the host for the correct terminal type. If it’s not there, check the host application’s documentation for the correct emulation. Once that’s set properly, the display will be correct.

This error usually means the specified serial port does not exist on the system. If the serial port physically exists, check to make sure the drivers are loaded. It’s possible the operating system doesn’t recognize the port. That might also indicate a hardware problem in the port itself.

When connecting to a serial device or modem, this message means another application is using the same port. This can include mouse drivers, fax software, or another terminal emulation program. There are more programs that might be using a serial port, but these are the most common.

If nothing else should be using the specified port, close all your applications and reboot your PC. If that does not clear up the problem, you’ll need to check the active processes on the PC, looking for those that might be accessing serial ports.

When you’ve set up an RS232 (Serial) connection, but aren’t getting a login prompt, there are several things to check:

1. Make sure you’ve chosen the right serial port. For example, TinyTERM defaults to COM2. If your PC only has one serial port, COM1, you’ll need to change the default.
2. Verify the communications settings. The baud rate, parity, word length and stop bits all need to match the port settings on the host computer, for the host port your PC is connected to. Each port on the host can have a different communication setup, though that’s uncommon.

If everything is set correctly, but you’re still not seeing a login prompt, you need to test the connection with another application. For example, there is a program included with Windows versions up to XP (but not Vista) named HyperTerminal. Regardless of the application or operating system you use, configure the connection the same as in TERM or TinyTERM.

If everything is set correctly in the other application, but you still don’t get a login prompt, then the problem isn’t in the terminal emulation software. It may be a problem in your PC’s serial port, in the cable connecting you to the host, or in the host’s serial port. You’ll need to test the hardware for failures in that case.