[SOLVED] USB Serial port does not work after upgrade from 22.7.11 to 23.1

[nghappiness]

I have a HP T740, I used a USB serial port to enable serial console to opnsense.  Since I upgraded to 23.1.  The serial console does not work anymore.  Please show me how to troubleshoot it.

[2/4/2023 update]   I reinstall 23.1 and restore my config.  The USB serial port on the T740 is working again...

[feld]

I have the same issue on my DEC840.

There's a known change with FreeBSD 13 and serial consoles. On other hardware I ran into the same thing where you need to disable Legacy UART in the BIOS which is what I did on my DEC840 so now my serial console works when the system is booted, but I can't see any of the boot process over serial anymore which is the opposite of what I had before.

The solution is to correct parameters in /boot/loader.conf, so hopefully OpnSense has an update soon to address this.

[chemlud]

Is the serial console the "Primary Console" under System -> Settings -> Administration?

[nghappiness]

Is the serial console the "Primary Console" under System -> Settings -> Administration?

In 22.7.x   I had

Console driver checked
Primary Console EFI Console
Secondary Console Serial Console
USB-base Serial checked

After upgrade to 23.1,  it stuck at EFI framebuffer information.  I turn off the secondary console serial console.  I am able to boot up now.

But I lost the serial console access.

[feld]

Is the serial console the "Primary Console" under System -> Settings -> Administration?

Primary: Serial Console
Secondary: none
Serial Speed: 115200
USB-based serial: UNCHECKED


I did not change these settings, so I'm actually surprised to see that the USB serial is unchecked as I'd expect it to be checked...

[franco]

See https://docs.opnsense.org/hardware/serial_connectivity.html#legacy-uart-vs-uefi-serial required BIOS setting. It's an USB interface, but not a USB serial so leave unchecked.


Cheers,
Franco

[Patrick M. Hausen]

To elaborate on @franco's answer: it's a plain old UART to the OPNsense/FreeBSD operating system, not a USB serial connection.

Since many laptops nowadays come without serial ports there is a USB to serial converter for the desktop system you connect built into the appliance. So you plug in a USB cable, you get a USB serial device on Windows/Mac/Linux/whatever ... this serial device is connected to the serial port of OPNsense.

Hope that explains things.
Patrick

[nghappiness]

Hi Patrick,

Sorry,  I am a bit lost.  This is my current setup,  Serial console access was working in 22.7.

[HP T740 USB type A port ]---[USB A to Serial DB9 adapter] --- Null Modem cable ---Serial port [Windows laptop]

Should I check the USB Serial port option?

I checked the HP T740, I don't find a way to disable the Legacy UART.