Why can't I get any serial data in/out of InSight Desktop Console's Serial 1 tab?

The functionality of the serial stream on the Serial 1 tab has some hardware and software dependencies on the embedded side, so while you may suspect problems on the PC side, your computer’s setup probably doesn’t have anything to do with the problems in this case…

In order to use the Serial 1 tab through InSight Desktop Console, the following steps must be met (no specific order):

• Firmware running on Ember node needs to be built with serial driver support (app/util/serial/serial.c) and Serial Port 1 should be initialized (via emberSerialInit()) in the software.

• Firmware on node needs to be built with a valid definition for EMBER_SERIAL1_MODE and non-zero sizes for EMBER_SERIAL1_TX_QUEUE_SIZE and EMBER_SERIAL1_RX_QUEUE_SIZE.

• Node must be installed on Ember breakout board.

• 24-pin DEI (Data Emulation Interface) cable must be installed between breakout board and InSight Adapter (ISA) at “Extended Debug” connector of the ISA. (Try another DEI cable if you suspect this part may be faulty.)

• GPIO9 and GPIO10 jumper pairs must each be covered on the Data Emulation Interface jumper array (near DEI cable connection of breakout board; located at J5 for EM250 Breakout Board). (Make sure to connect them across to the connector, not to each other.)

• Valid TCP connection must be available between InSight Desktop (ISD) and the node’s ISA.

• Sometimes you may need to press Enter when a new Console tab is opened before the data stream begins to flow.

If you have followed all these steps and are still having trouble, please contact your Ember support representative for further assistance.