Serial cable mysteries

[Tony Duell]

> 
> Hi,
> I am working on a home brew SBC and am trying to build a serial cable for
> it.  Are there any RS-232 serial port gurus who could help me plumb out a
> custom cable?
> 
> The SBC serial connection works but as it currently is configured it only
> works as 3 wire serial with no flow control (ie, RD, TD, & GND pins).
> 
> I would very much like to make the serial cable and SBC support hardware
> flow control.  Having the DSR/DTR pins connected should allow it.  However
> the PC is expecting CTS/RTS hardware flow control.


I find it better to think in terms of 'handshake in' and 'handshake out' 
pins for things like this. Sure it's completlely mangling the RS232 spec, 
but any use of hardware flow control does that (at least according to the 
spec I've read).

In your case  :

On the PC, Handshake out is RTS (prssuambly asserted whrn the PC is ready 
to receive). Handshake in is CTS (the external device asserts this when 
it is readt for the PC to send something to it)

On the SBC, handshake out is DTR (asseted when the SBC is ready to 
receive I guess), handshake in is DSR (asseted by the PC when it is ready 
to receiv soemthing from the SBC).

> 
> My SBC UART is wired so that the RD, TD, DTR, DSR, and GND pins are brought
> to the serial connector.  I probably should have brought CTS & RTS out but
> it is too late to change it now.
> 
> I have wired a cable like this which works for 3 wire serial (no flow
> control)
> 
> PC DB25 (9 to 25 pin cable)	SBC (25 pin female)
> 2	TD----------------------RD	
> 3	RD----------------------TD
> 7	GND---------------------GND
> 6	DSR---------------------DTR
> 20	DTR---------------------DSR

That would, I think, work for hardware flow control if the PC was using 
DSR/DTR flow control, not RTS/CTS.

> 
> Obviously this cable does not support hardware flow control because when I
> try to connect with hardware flow control enabled, I can see the SBC boot
> message on the terminal screen but cannot send characters from the PC to the
> SBC.
> 
> So I have been experimenting trying to figure out how to fix this.  I got
> the data sheet for the 16C550 and a serial port breakout box.  After much
> combinations, I discovered that if I connect a jumper between the PC serial
> port pins 5 (PC CTS) and pin 20 (SBC DSR) then the serial port *DOES*
> support hardware flow control.  At least it appears to.  I get the feeling
> though that I am mixing dissimilar control signals and it is confusing me.
> 
> My question is, does the above configuration with the PC CTS and SBC DSR
> connected really use hardware flow control or is it just "faking out" the PC
> and/or SBC UART?  As a follow on, are both sides actually getting hardware
> flow control or is it just one side or the other?
> 
> This is my new and improved serial cable with *appears* to support hardware
> flow control.  Is there any way to test this?
> 
> PC DB25 (9 to 25 pin cable)	SBC (25 pin female)
> 2	TD----------------------RD	
> 3	RD----------------------TD
> 7	GND---------------------GND
> 6	DSR---------------------DTR
> 20	DTR----+----------------DSR
> 5	CTS----+

Alas that's 'Faking it' I think. DTR is an output on the PC, it's being 
sent back to the PC's CTS (which is the handshake in line), so the PC is 
always being told it can transmit (I assuem DTR is aserted all the time 
by the PC). And by connecting that to DSR on the SBC, you're telling the 
SBC that it can send any time it likes.

How about the following : 

PC             SBC
TxD ---------- RxD
RxD ---------- TxD
Gnd ---------- Gnd
RTS ---------- DSR
CTS ---------- DTR
DSR--+
DTR--+

-tony