[CentOS] Need to test serial port connection

[Phil Schaffner]

On Thu, 2009-02-26 at 10:17 +0000, Anne Wilson wrote:
> I recently bought a new UPS, and I'm attempting to use nut to  monitor it.  
> Following setup instructions everything seemed to go well until it came to 
> testing the connection, which failed.
> 
> There is just one serial connector on the computer, so I set it to 
> monitor /dev/ttyS0.   Either that is wrong, or communication is failing.  
> I've been told to try minicom to monitor it, but I'm not familiar with 
> minicom (or any similar app), so again, I may be wrong in the way I'm trying 
> to use that.  I was told that unconnecting the device, then re-connecting it 
> should give me a raft of output to the terminal - I saw nothing.
> 
> Could someone please give me idiot-level instructions on how to tell whether 
> I'm connecting to the correct port, or whatever other information I need?

Anne,

Are you sure the cable is correct?  I recall in the past having trouble
with an APC UPS that required an oddball RS-232 serial cable before it
would communicate.  There were different variants available and only one
would work.  Posting details of the brand/model of UPS involved might
get better help.

Phil