HCS12 microcontroller question

Vladimir Vassilevsky wrote:

> However I don't know of any specific problems of hyperterm. If all that 
> you need is a basic terminal, it will work as good as any other program.
> 

Apart from its tendency to hang the whole computer, the main drawback is 
the difficulty of changing Baud rate, parity and handshake on the fly. 
Tera Term makes this easy, but it has its own (relatively minor) 
drawback- if it gets a faulty character it can get confused and display 
gibberish until you clear the screen and reset the connection.

Paul Burke

cs_posting@hotmail.com wrote:

> One argument for keeping hypeterminal... you'll be familiar with it's
> issues, which is good, because the day will come where you have to
> talk to your device using someone else's computer which has nothing
> else installed.
> 

That's what USB sticks were designed for.

On Feb 12, 10:26 am, Paul Burke <p...@scazon.com> wrote:
> cs_post...@hotmail.com wrote:
> > One argument for keeping hypeterminal... you'll be familiar with it's
> > issues, which is good, because the day will come where you have to
> > talk to your device using someone else's computer which has nothing
> > else installed.
>
> That's what USB sticks were designed for.

Many of our customers wouldn't let us anywhere near their facility in
the posession of one.

David Brown wrote:

> panfilero wrote:
> <snip>
> 
>> my MCU, so I'm trying to get familiar with the serial port by
>> accessing it through a hyperterminal....
>>
> 
> No one else seems to have mentioned this so far, but drop hyperterminal. 
>  It is commonly regarded as worthless, and is regularly the cause of 
> problems.  I don't want to start a religious war over which is the 
> "best" terminal emulator program, but you should download Tera Term Pro. 
>  It's free, it's simple, it's reliable, and thus it is far better than 
> hyperterminal.  If you ever want something more advanced, there are lots 
> of options (and even more opinions), but at the moment, TTPro is your 
> best choice.

That may be good advice for a developer of serial apps.

But

By far most of the serial ports that talk to my code are there for 
debugging by engineering, manufacturing and service personnel. 
Generally with anybody other than software people you can either write 
stuff that'll work with Hyperterminal, or you can drop any expectations 
of having your debug port used.  I've always felt that it's better to 
write my code to Hyperterminal's limitations than to fight that 
particular fight.

-- 

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Posting from Google?  See http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/

"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" came out in April.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

"CBFalconer" <cbfalconer@yahoo.com> wrote in message 
news:45D010E9.917DAA8E@yahoo.com...
> "Michael A. Terrell" wrote:
>> It went over real well, didn't it?  The last I heard of Packard,
>> they made connector housings and wiring harnesses for other GM
>> brands.
>
> Packard was never part of GM, nor of Hewlett-Packard, nor of
> Packard Bell.

    Read it again.  He didn't say they were.  He said they made connector 
housings and wiring harnesses.  Many companies make things for GM and are 
not part of GM.

On Feb 12, 2:29 pm, "Sir Charles W. Shults III"
<aichipNOS...@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
> "CBFalconer" <cbfalco...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:45D010E9.917DAA8E@yahoo.com...
>
> > "Michael A. Terrell" wrote:
> >> It went over real well, didn't it?  The last I heard of Packard,
> >> they made connector housings and wiring harnesses for other GM
> >> brands.
>
> > Packard was never part of GM, nor of Hewlett-Packard, nor of
> > Packard Bell.
>
>     Read it again.  He didn't say they were.  He said they made connector
> housings and wiring harnesses.  Many companies make things for GM and are
> not part of GM.

Read it again and tell us what the word "other" is doing in front of
"GM brands" ?

(many can play your game)

Vladimir Vassilevsky wrote:
> 
>> No one else seems to have mentioned this so far, but drop 
>> hyperterminal.  It is commonly regarded as worthless, and is regularly 
>> the cause of problems.

Exactly.

> However I don't know of any specific problems of hyperterm. If all that 
> you need is a basic terminal, it will work as good as any other program.

Can not receive 0x00 byte.
Hanging up from time to time, especially if you start it when data is 
already flowing.

Inability to control RTS and DTR.

WBR, Yuriy.
"Liberalism is a mental disorder"

Vladimir Vassilevsky wrote:
> 
> 
> David Brown wrote:
> 
> 
>> No one else seems to have mentioned this so far, but drop 
>> hyperterminal.  It is commonly regarded as worthless, and is regularly 
>> the cause of problems.
> 
> There is no doubt the hyperterm is inconvenient and lacking many 
> features. Also, it is a part of the evil empire of MS, and every true 
> believer should never even think of it.
> 
> However I don't know of any specific problems of hyperterm. If all that 
> you need is a basic terminal, it will work as good as any other program.
> 
> Vladimir Vassilevsky
> 
> DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant
> 
> http://www.abvolt.com

There's a thread about decent alternatives to hyperterminal a dozen 
times a year in comp.arch.embedded.  Look in the archives, or accept the 
opinion of experienced developers.  Hyperterminal sometimes works for 
some people, but it's regularly a problem and compared to the free, 
faster, easier and reliable Tera Term Pro, it is just a waste of 
everyone's time.

Tim Wescott wrote:
> David Brown wrote:
> 
>> panfilero wrote:
>> <snip>
>>
>>> my MCU, so I'm trying to get familiar with the serial port by
>>> accessing it through a hyperterminal....
>>>
>>
>> No one else seems to have mentioned this so far, but drop 
>> hyperterminal.  It is commonly regarded as worthless, and is regularly 
>> the cause of problems.  I don't want to start a religious war over 
>> which is the "best" terminal emulator program, but you should download 
>> Tera Term Pro.  It's free, it's simple, it's reliable, and thus it is 
>> far better than hyperterminal.  If you ever want something more 
>> advanced, there are lots of options (and even more opinions), but at 
>> the moment, TTPro is your best choice.
> 
> That may be good advice for a developer of serial apps.
> 
> But
> 
> By far most of the serial ports that talk to my code are there for 
> debugging by engineering, manufacturing and service personnel. Generally 
> with anybody other than software people you can either write stuff 
> that'll work with Hyperterminal, or you can drop any expectations of 
> having your debug port used.  I've always felt that it's better to write 
> my code to Hyperterminal's limitations than to fight that particular fight.
> 

I tell my customers that if they want support for the product using the 
debug port, they install Tera Term Pro and use that.  Not one time have 
I heard complaints, or any hints that they might have preferred 
hyperterminal.  The chances are we have different sorts of customers, 
and different sorts of support relationships - maybe I'm lucky here.

Tim Wescott <tim@seemywebsite.com> wrote in news:kM-
dndJnNctrPU3YnZ2dnUVZ_tOmnZ2d@web-ster.com:

> Generally with anybody other than software people you can either write 
> stuff that'll work with Hyperterminal, or you can drop any expectations 
> of having your debug port used.  I've always felt that it's better to 
> write my code to Hyperterminal's limitations than to fight that 
> particular fight.
> 

My own experience is that most users are going to be happier with a small 
executable terminal program that works, than they would be to browse all 
the way through the communications menu to find, then configure, 
hyperterminal.  

Most users haven't touched anything that looks remotely like a terminal in 
years.  They've got no familiarity with any product.

-- 
Scott
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