There is a debug port on pcDuino8 Uno which can used to access system directly as command line mode. You just only use a USB UART cable to connect to this port, when system is up, system initialization information will print to this port and also you can use it to log in Ubuntu. It seemly like an Linux terminal and you can control the whole system without screen, keyboard or mouse. Very convenient, isn’t it?

The following part will tell you how to use this debug port.

1. Get a USB UART cable

I use this PL2303 USB UART cable, and the details has been shown in the following table.

2. Install Drivers on PC（Windows as example）

Download the PL2303 Windows driver and install it.

3. Connect

One port of USB UART cable is connected to PC USB port。Another pins are connected to debup port on pcDuino8 uno.

debug port (RX) <—> RXD(WHITE)
debug port (GND) <—> GND(BLACK)
debug port (TX) <—> TXD(GREEN）

4. Configure the Serial tool

Open Device Manager to get which COM port has been recognized by PC.

Open a serial tool(take Putty as example) and configure it:
Serial line :COM11
Speed:115200

Then click “Open” button.

Power on pcDuino8 Uno, the log information will print on the window.

At the end, it directly login ubuntu as root, and you can input shell command to control the system.