Connect to and Control a Synaccess NPC-22 netCommander from Ubuntu 16.04.3 Running in a VirtualBox V

This post demonstrates how to connect to and control a Synaccess NPC-22 netCommander (Rev 4) from Ubuntu 16.04.5 running in a VirtualBox managed VM via a Prolific Technology Inc. USB-to-serial port converter to turn a target on and off. It also shows you how to simultaneously connect to a USB-to-UART converter connected to a target and the Prolific Tech converter with minicom. The target in this case is a ZC706 from Xilinx. I also include a copy of the original docs for Rev4 NPC-22.The post also shows how to create a script that will power cycle the target using minicom.

Steps

Step 1: Connect the female DB9 plug of the Prolific Technology Inc. USB-to-serial port converter to the RS232 DCE Master Port on the NPC-22

Step 2: Connect the USB plug of the Prolific Technology Inc. USB-to-serial port converter to a USB hub.

Step 3: Connect the USB-to-serial port of the target to the USB hub

Step 4: Connect the power supply of the NPC-22

Step 5: Connect the target to port 1 of the NPC-22

Step 6: In Ubuntu type dmesg

You should see something like:

Step 6.1: Note down that the Digilent device is connected to ttyUSB1 and the Prolific Technology Inc. connector connected to the Synaccess is connected to ttyUSB0.

Step 7: Follow the instructions listed at [link] to set up minicom (don't skip)

Step 8: Open a terminal window and type minicom -b 9600 -D /dev/ttyUSB0 to talk to the Synaccess.

This ^^^ will use the default set up from the instructions above, but use 9600 for the baud. -D isn't needed since its been set up in the config, but it is listed for clarity.

Step 8.1: Press Enter once.

You should see:

>

If you don't see a prompt press the Reset button for about 5 secs, until the lights blink:

Step 8.2: Type /help

You should see

Step 9: Open another terminal and type minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB1

This ^^^ will use the default, but connect to /dev/ttyUSB1

Step 10: Turn the target on and off with:

Off:

>/pset 1 0

On: >/pset 1 1

A Script to Turn the Target On and Off and Exit minicom

Create a file called offon.txt with:

send /pset 1 0 sleep 1 send /pset 1 1 sleep 1 ! killall -9 minicom

...and call minicom with:

minicom -b 9600 -D /dev/ttyUSB0 -S offon.txt

This is "runscript" see [link] (this had the tip about ! killall -9 minicom). I also consulted [link].

Original NPC-22 Documentation

References

• Synaccess web site [link]

• The NPC-22T [link] for $269.00 (they don't seem to sell the NPC-22 anymore)

• Synaccess log clipped from [link]