Finished install . . . - go. . . [threw in the towel - unsolved]

[ajoeiam]

Greetings

Going to the firewall and what I'm seeing looks like this:

* eseciOPNsens2

               (ib0) -> v4192.1681
SHA256 DEFA97 70 F E 29 2E
           DC 6D 3D 0D 5A B834 503C 32 77 9F  EB 2
F/amd64Psesel(

eB64(ONsenocain (y)

gin: root
Pa
Login incre
asword:t
       st ueAp 2 0:8 t-----------
  Hellothis ie3       |     @@@@|
                                                  **PNscai:Psese3.

                                                                   AN (192. -> v4: 192.146.231.254/24

oot                  Ping hot  1) Assigntrfes                  Shell
  2) Set interface IP address            9) pfTop
  3) Reset the root password            10)Firl log
 4) Reet to factory defau     1 eoa alrvcs   oe stem

                                                                    aableinerface:
                                                                                  bst tak6) -Wsti)
selocaldomain: OPs1                                                                               ttef therface : ^C
N (g   - v4: 2.1681.1/24
HTTP:1)      -> v4: 192.146.231.254
 ) ssteae         ) Slt
2) Set interface IP address            9) pfTop
  3) Reset the root password            10)^C
FeeBD/amd6OPNsse.ocalayu0
gin:


What do I do?

I have tried a second restart making sure that my serial port settings are to 115200.
What might be causing this 'barf'.

Can I configure the system entirely from the console?

Please advise.

TIA

[cookiemonster]

For people reading the forum this is non-readable. The forum software code wraps and messes up the format. Try putting it in code quotes. Right now it is near impossible to know what the question is.

[ajoeiam]

This mess - - - which you say you cannot read (neither can I for that matter) is EXACTLY what I see.

so back to my question - - - - what in the heck happened from yesterday's successful install?

Do I need to change my serial port settings?

Something else?

Please advise.

[Patrick M. Hausen]

115200, 8N1, hardware handshake active (RTS/CTS)?

[ajoeiam]

Well - - - killed the instance of putty I was using.

Restarted checking to make sure things were 115200 8 N 1

still the same garbage.

So it would seem that its not serial port settings.

What's the next thing to look at?

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Hardware handshake active or not? At this speed it's essential.

[ajoeiam]

Hmmmmmm - - - where do I check that?

[meyergru]

Let me guess: You use an USB-serial cable with a fake FTDI chip and do not have the old (yet correctly working) driver installed, but the original FTDI one, which is delivered with Windows?

See: https://hackaday.com/2016/02/01/ftdi-drivers-break-fake-chips-again/

If I am correct: downgrade the driver...

[ajoeiam]

- - - - - except I don't have a running copy of M$ Win - - - - .

All my other systems at present are running Devuan Daedelus.

If this 'problem' also affects Linux boxen - - - please advise.

(Would be useful to know what would be needed if such is the case as well - - - TIA)

[meyergru]

No, I don't think that Linux is affected. However, it sounds like the serial transfer is problematic. Sometimes, the baud rate is not quite correct, because of some chep oscillator, you could try to change the speed up or down a bit.

However, it looks like hardware handshake is the problem. Are all cables connected, including CTS and DTR?
What kind of USB-to-serial chip is in use? There are cheap knockoffs to FTDI and several low-budget chips that do not work too well for 115200 baud.

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Hmmmmmm - - - where do I check that?

https://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/0.78/htmldoc/Chapter4.html#config-serial

4.29.6 - pick RTS/CTS.

[ajoeiam]

Hmmmmm - - - - you're suggesting that I change the baud rate  "up or down a bit" - - - - how much do you mean - - - 10, 25, 50 100 baud?
right now there is just the serial cable connected - - - my present router is also on 192.168.1.1 so putting both boxen up at the same time causes issues - - - - I would like to setup the router/firewall box before I put it into service.
(OPNSense setup is looking a wee bit daunting!!)
Dunno if its a cheap chip - - - - cable is supposedly made by Eaton - - - - better its made in China - - - and its sold by Tripp Lite - - - they say they have a 3 year warranty on it but it might cost more to exercise the warranty than to buy another cable. As I bought it on Newegg - - - they might help if there are warranty issues.

Is there a way to tell what level of chip is in the cable - - - - its all embedded in plastic - - - -?

At over $40 CAN this wasn't what I would call a 'cheap' cable either.

Short of lots of trial and error - - - - any way of finding what frequency is needed?

[ajoeiam]

Have tried adding RTS/CTS - - - - still no joy.

This is becoming quite an interesting odyssey - - -

[meyergru]

Based on Eaton docs, it is a Prolific PL2303RA Chipset.

You did not say what you are connecting it to serial-wise. There are 3.3V versions out that are incompatible with that converter (see https://forum.openwrt.org/t/garbled-serial-output/90578/2). Matter-of-fact some cheap USB-to-serial adapters have jumpers to switch voltage.

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Hmm ... Tripp Lite at > $40? Maybe one of their USA-something adapters? Have you tried their proprietary device drivers?

I used to swear by their USA-19HS, but use a cheap "Aten" based on the Prolific chipset now, because their Mac support is practically nonexistent. Which is a pity, the product itself is really good. Bit waiting a year or longer for updated working drivers after each Mac OS update is not an option. And Apple does not publish these in a surprising fashion. They are quite open about their release cycles and provide beta versions to developers. Seems like Eaton/Tripp Lite is not interested in the Mac market, anymore.

That being said - if it's indeed an USA-19HS or similar, these should work splendidly up to 115200 or even 230400. Make sure you run their driver, first.