I was digging through my old Blogger blog deciding whether to let it live on or to kill it when I came across this gem. The instructions still work, even on the new Intel macs, and can be a lifesaver if you need a serial console on OSX.

I’m in my cisco networking class, and we’re working on our 2600 series routers. After getting frustrated with having to drag out hold laptops and desktops to do serial, I decided to hook my Mac up with a USB to serial adapter.

Here’s how I did it and what advice I have:

1. Purchased a generic USB to serial with a Prolific 2303 chipset. Most usb-to-serial adapters have this.

2. Googled A BUNCH! (you’ll be able to skip this step if you’re reading this)

3. Installed the opensources PL2303 drivers for OS X from here.

4. Reboot. Don’t bother with trying to kextload, while it says it works it doesn’t seem to.

5. Plug in USB to Serial adapter.

6. In terminal type ls -l /dev/tty.* Look for the one that has PL2303 in it. If it’s there, you’re golden!

7. Download ZTerm. Here’s your terminal emulator

-OR-

8. Use screen. type this in terminal: screen /dev/tty.PL2303-(your device ID here) 9600 You get your device ID from your ls -l /dev/tty.* 9600 is the baud rate.

DON, Mac, prolific 2303, serial, USB, usb to serial adapter