1picocom(8)                                                          picocom(8)
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3
4

NAME

6       picocom - minimal dumb-terminal emulation program
7

SYNOPSIS

9       picocom [ options ] device
10

DESCRIPTION

12       As its name suggests, picocom is a minimal dumb-terminal emulation pro‐
13       gram. It is, in principle, very much like minicom(1) , only it's "pico"
14       instead  of "mini"! It was designed to serve as a simple, manual, modem
15       configuration, testing, and debugging tool. It has also  served  (quite
16       well) as a low-tech "terminal-window" to allow operator intervention in
17       PPP connection scripts (something like the  ms-windows  "open  terminal
18       window  before / after dialing" feature). It could also prove useful in
19       many other similar tasks.
20
21       When picocom starts it opens the terminal (serial device) given as  its
22       non-option argument. Unless the --noinit option is given, it configures
23       the device to the settings specified by  the  option-arguments  (or  to
24       some  default  settings),  and  sets  it  to "raw" mode. If --noinit is
25       given, the initialization and configuration is skipped; the  device  is
26       just  opened. Following this, picocom sets the standard-input and stan‐
27       dard-output to raw mode. Having done so, it goes in  a  loop  where  it
28       listens  for  input from stdin, or from the serial port. Input from the
29       serial port is copied to the standard output while input from the stan‐
30       dard  input is copied to the serial port.  picocom also scans its input
31       stream for a user-specified control character, called the "escape char‐
32       acter"  (being by default "C-a"). If the escape character is seen, then
33       instead of sending it to the serial-device, the program enters "command
34       mode"  and  waits for the next character (which is called the "function
35       character"). Depending on the value of the function character,  picocom
36       performs  one  of  the  operations  described in the "Commands" section
37       below.
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39

COMMANDS

41       Commands are given to picocom by first keying  the  "espace  character"
42       which  by  default  is "C-a" (see "Options" below on how to change it),
43       and then keying one for the function (command) characters shown here.
44
45       [escape character]
46          Send the escape character to the serial port and return  to  "trans‐
47          parent"  mode.  This  means  that if the escape character ("C-a", by
48          default) is typed twice, the program sends the escape  character  to
49          the  serial  port,  and  remains  in transparent mode. This is a new
50          behavior implemented in v1.4. Previously picocom used to ignore  the
51          escape-character when it was entered as a function character.
52
53       C-x
54          Exit  the  program: if the "--noreset" option was not given then the
55          serial port is reset to its original settings before exiting; if  it
56          was given the serial port is not reset.
57
58       C-q
59          Quit  the  program *without* reseting the serial port, regardless of
60          the "--noreset" option.
61
62       C-p
63          Pulse the DTR line. Lower it for 1 sec, and then raise it again.
64
65       C-t
66          Toggle the DTR line. If DTR is up, then lower it.  If  it  is  down,
67          then raise it.
68
69       C-\
70          Generate  a  break  sequence on the serial line. A break sequence is
71          usually generated by marking (driving to logical one) the serial  Tx
72          line  for  an amount of time coresponding to several character dura‐
73          tions.
74
75       C-u
76          Baud up. Increase the baud-rate. The  list  of  baud-rates  stepped-
77          through by this command is: 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200,
78          38400, 57600, 115200.
79
80       C-d
81          Baud down. Decrease the baud-rate. The list of  baud-rates  stepped-
82          through by this command is the same as for the "baud-up" command.
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84       C-f
85          Cycle through flow-control settings (RTS/CTS, XON/XOFF, none).
86
87       C-y
88          Cycle through parity settings (even, odd, none).
89
90       C-b
91          Cycle through databits-number settings (5, 6, 7, 8).
92
93       C-v
94          Show  program  options  (like  baud  rate, data bits, etc). Only the
95          options that can be modified online (through  commands)  are  shown,
96          not those that can only be set at the command-line.
97
98       C-s
99          Send (upload) a file (see "Sending and Receiving Files" below)
100
101       C-r
102          Receive (download) a file (see "Sending and Receiving Files" below)
103
104       After  performing  one  of  the above operations the program leaves the
105       command mode and enters transparent  mode.  Example:  To  increase  the
106       baud-rate by two steps, you have to type:
107
108       C-a, C-u, C-a, C-u
109
110       assuming of-course that "C-a" is the escape character.
111
112

SENDING AND RECEIVING FILES

114       picocom  can send and receive files over the serial port using external
115       programs that implement the respective protocols. In Linux typical pro‐
116       grams for this purpose are:
117
118       —  rx(1) - receive using the X-MODEM protocol
119
120       —  rb(1) - receive using the Y-MODEM protocol
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122rz(1) - receive using the Z-MODEM protocol
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124       —  sx(1) - send using the X-MODEM protocol
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126       —  sb(1) - send using the Y-MODEM protocol
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128sz(1) - send using the Z-MODEM protocol
129
130ascii-xfr(1) - receive or transmit ASCII files
131
132       The  name  of,  and the command-line options to, the program to be used
133       for transmitting files are given by the "--send-cmd" option.  Similarly
134       the  program  to  receive  files,  and  its  argumets, are given by the
135       "--receive-cmd" option. For example, in order to start a  picocom  ses‐
136       sion that uses "sz" to transmit files, and "rz" to receive, you have to
137       say something like this:
138
139       picocom --send-cmd "sz -vv" --receive-cmd "rz -vv"
140
141       During the picocom session, if you key the "send" or "receive" commands
142       (e.g.  by  pressing  C-a,  C-s, or C-a, C-r) you will be prompted for a
143       filename. At this prompt you can enter one or more file-names, and  any
144       additional  arguments  to  the transmission or reception program. After
145       that, picocom will start the the external program as specified  by  the
146       "--send-cmd",  or  "--receive-cmd"  option,  and with any filenames and
147       additional arguments you may have supplied. The standard input and out‐
148       put  of  the external program will be connected to the serial port. The
149       standard error of the external program will be connected to the  termi‐
150       nal  which---while  the  program  is running---will revert to canonical
151       mode. Pressing 'C-c' while the external program is running will  prema‐
152       turely terminate it, and return control to picocom
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154

OPTIONS

156       picocom accepts the following command-line options
157
158       --baud | -b
159          Defines the baud-rate to set the serial-port (terminal) to.
160
161       --flow | -f
162          Defines the flow-control mode to set the serial-port to. Must be one
163          of:
164
165          —  ´x' for xon/xoff (software) mode
166
167          —  ´h' for hardware flow control (RTS/CTS)
168
169          —  ´n' for no flow control
170
171          (Default: 'n')
172
173       --parity | -p
174          Defines the parity mode to set the serial-port to. Must be one of:
175
176          —  ´o' for odd parity mode.
177
178          —  ´e' for even parity mode.
179
180          —  ´n' for no parity, mode.
181
182          (Default: 'n')
183
184       --databits | -d
185          Defines the number of data bits in every character. Must be one  of:
186          5, 6, 7, 8
187
188          (Default: 8)
189
190       --esacpe | -e
191          Defines the character that will make picocom enter command-mode (see
192          description above). If 'x' is given,  then  C-x  will  make  picocom
193          enter command mode.
194
195          (Default: 'a')
196
197       --noinit | -i
198          If  given,  picocom  will not initialize, reset, or otherwise meddle
199          with the serial port at start-up. It will just open it. This is use‐
200          ful,  for  example,  for  connecting  picocom  to  already-connected
201          modems, or already configured ports without terminating the  connec‐
202          tion,  or  altering the settings. If required serial port parameters
203          can then be adjusted at run-time by commands.
204
205       --noreset | -r
206          If given, picocom will not *reset* the serial port when exiting.  It
207          will just close the filedes and do nothing more. This is useful, for
208          example, for leaving modems connected when exiting  picocom  picocom
209          using the "Quit" command (instead of "Exit"), which never resets the
210          serial port. If "--noreset" is given then "Quit" and  "Exit"  behave
211          essentially the same.
212
213       --nolock | -l
214          If  given, picocom will *not* attempt to lock the serial port before
215          opening it. Normally picocom attempts to get a UUCP-style  lock-file
216          (e.g. "/var/lock/LCK..ttyS0") before opening the port. Failing to do
217          so, results in the program exiting after emitting an  error-message.
218          It  is  possible  that  your picocom binary is compiled without this
219          option.
220
221       --send-cmd | -s
222          Specifies the external program (and any arguments to it)  that  will
223          be used for transmitting files.
224
225          Default: "sz -vv"
226
227       --receive-cmd | -v
228          Specifies  the  external program (and any arguments to it) that will
229          be used for receiving files.
230
231          (Default: "rz -vv")
232
233       --help | -h
234          Print a short help message describing the command-line options.
235

AUTHOR

237       picocom was written by Nick Patavalis (npat@efault.net)
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239

AVAILABILITY

241       The   latest   version   of   "picocom"   can   be   downloaded   from:
242       http://efault.net/npat/hacks/picocom/
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246                                                                    picocom(8)
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