Configure through serial port?

Embedded Devices NET+OS
1

Ran into a nasty situation during some testing this weekend. I powered up the Wi-SP and saw the green light go solid. Turns out that I have a neighbor with an open AP, and it was connecting to the neighbor’s AP instead of mine. Needless to say, this left me with no access to the Digi, so I could not reconfigure. I came up with a workaround involving metal cans, but that’s not something I can use in the field.

What’s the procedure to configure the Wi-SP if you don’t have wireless access? I tried defaulting it, sending escapes, hitting return, etc. but I never got a prompt out of the serial port.

2

It is fairly easy to get into the “dialog menu” of the device.

  1. Use a standard serial cable (not a crossover) to connect the WI-SP to your PC.
  2. Open the Digi ESP, select the “Serial COM1” window.
  3. Select the Properties menu and verify the following settings. Click “APPLY” and then “OK”.
    COM1
    9600
    8
    1
    NONE
  4. Select the Connect menu. This will open a serial connection and display the following:

Serial port connected.

Port Name: COM1
Baud Rate: 9600
Data Bits: 8
Stop Bits: 1
Parity: 0

  1. Power up the WI-SP module. In a few seconds, the module will output the following message:

NET+OS Version 7.4.2
Copyright (c) 1997-2008, Digi International, Inc.

PLATFORM: connectsp_esp 4M/16M [Jul 20 2009 11:19:13]
APPLICATION: iNM Project [Jul 20 2009 11:21:48]

NETWORK INTERFACE PARAMETERS:
IP address on LAN is 10.10.0.125
LAN interface’s subnet mask is 255.255.252.0
IP address of default gateway to other networks is 10.10.1.1
IPv6 static address on LAN is :: prefixlen 64
HARDWARE PARAMETERS:
Serial channels will use a baud rate of 9600
This board’s serial number is N99999999
This board’s Ethernet MAC Address is 00:40:9D:24:CB:29
After board is reset, start-up code will wait 5 seconds
Default duplex setting for Ethernet connection: default

Press any key in 5 seconds to change these settings.

  1. Now type “m”, enter the password (either “password” or “netSilicon”).

Press A to Accept the settings, or M to Modify?m

Enter the root password: ********

Reset configuration to default values [N]?

For each of the following questions, you can press to select the value shown in braces, or you can enter a new value.

ETHERNET INTERFACE SETTINGS:

Obtain IP settings automatically using DHCP for Ethernet interface [N]?
IP address [10.10.0.125]?
Subnet mask [255.255.252.0]?
Gateway address [10.10.1.1]?

Enable DHCPv6 for the Ethernet interface [N]?

Enable static IPv6 for the Ethernet interface [Y]? n

This interface must have a unique MAC address.
Ethernet MAC Address [00:40:9D:24:CB:29]?
Ethernet duplex setting (default, full, half)? [default]

SERIAL CONSOLE PORT SETTINGS:

Set the baud rate of the serial console port [9600]?
9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200

SECURITY SETTINGS:

Would you like to update the Root Password [N]?
Would you like to update the Administrator ‘admin’ Password [N]?

MISCELLANEOUS SETTINGS:

Each development board must have a unique serial number
Set the board’s serial number[N99999999]?

How long (in seconds) should CPU delay before starting up [5]?

Saving the changes in NV memory…Done.

I hope this is what you were looking for. If not, let me know more details about what you want to be doing.

3

> I hope this is what you were looking for. If not,
> let me know more details about what you want to be
> doing.

It’s been over 3 years, so I don’t remember what prompted the original query. I think it was back before the book mentioned that the CLI could be activated by the DIP switches.

The output you’ve shown doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen from a Wi-SP with the stock plug-n-play firmware.

4

The WI-SP units come in several flavors. I didn’t realize you have a Plug-n-Play (NDS) unit. I was referring to a “Custom” NET+OS unit, thus the reason for the unrecognizable output from my serial port.

5

newell - push all the dip switches next to the serial port away from the serial port and you can get into the command line interface through the serial port at 9600/8/n/1 no flow.

You can also reset the unit to factory defaults (it will try to connect to an AP with an SSID of ‘Connect’ - case sensitive) by powering off the unit, pressing and holding the itty bitty reset button next to the dip switches (there’s basically a small hole just big enough for a pen’s head), and then powering on the module. Wait until you see the activity LED blink in a 1-5-1 blink code, and then it’s back to defaults.

6

I am referring to a “custom” NET + OS unit, and thus do not recognize the reasons of the serial output.