Getting Started with TTL USB MinerMEDIC Guide

If you're into tech, hacking, managing, or just starting out, one of the must-have tools for troubleshooting is a TTL to USB interface converter. This USB gadget lets mining machine control boards connect with the outside world when everything else fails, like your ethernet network. The basic TTL serial interface, which includes TX/GND/RX for Zynq units and Pin 1(GND), Pin 4(RX), Pin 5(TX) for BeagleBone Black units, is the simplest and most dependable way to interact with any CPU. This functionality is handled by something called a UART, so you might hear that term thrown around too. When you power up, data from the TX pin starts flowing right away. It’s almost identical to what you'd find in the kernel log but shows up way before the web interface is ready. Plus, it’s live, so you don’t even need to refresh. That’s why using a Serial/UART/TTL to USB connection is key for troubleshooting if you want any chance of success. To grab the data coming in from the TTL wire to your USB converter and show it on your screen, you’ll need a terminal program. There are tons of options out there (putty, eggshell, teraterm, just to name a few), and it’s no surprise that everyone has their favorites. These terminal programs vary in complexity and options, which leads to the real answer being none of them are perfect (at least for Windows users). The best bet is to just run a few commands in Windows PowerShell and get your data.