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How can i get my VT420 and a modern PC to talk to each other?

A

AlecRob

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Sep 22, 2012
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I have a DEC VT420 and I'd like to connect it to a PC so I can run a text-based web browser like Lynx, and maybe other applications. However, the VT420 only has MMJ ports on it, and no regular serial port like you might expect. So how can I get this baby to work? Is it possible? I'd like to put this old terminal to use because it looks really cool on my desk and its been sitting around for years and has hardly been touched!

I'm sure some of you guys here are somewhat familiar with what kind of hardware or software I'll need to get this beast up and running, so let me know if possible! ;)
 
If you run Linux on the PC you plan to use, you can use the terminal with it. Here is a tutorial that I found helpful: http://www.vanemery.com/Linux/Serial/serial-console.html.

I have not been able to try it with a real terminal yet, but I followed the steps without testing it over the serial port, and it seemed to behave the way the tutorial said (the distro I was using was muLinux). Just be extremely careful editing the config files. If you are not familiar with Linux, lots of resources use those config files, and it is easy to mess something up. The same can be said about being the root user. As root you could delete the whole hard drive and the OS wouldn't warn you. Also before you make any modifications to the system make sure that the modifications will work with your distro so it won't hurt your system or just simply not work, and be sure to make backup copies of the config files so you can restore the previous versions easily.
 
I can't think of much that is interesting to do with a serial terminal with Windows itself.

Maybe install SIMH and run VMS on a simulated VAX or a PDP-11 OS on a simulated PDP-11 with I/O routed to the terminal.
 
I'll just use a linux PC then. In my bedroom, i have the terminal sitting on my desk, and theres already a hole in the floor where a ethernet cable used to go. I'm thinking i'll be running an MMJ cable through the hole to the basement where a linux box will be set up. I want to do this because my desk space is very limited and i like the clean simplistic look of just the terminal. It'll be a pretty nifty looking setup once its up and running.
 
AlecRob said:
I'll just use a linux PC then. In my bedroom, i have the terminal sitting on my desk, and theres already a hole in the floor where a ethernet cable used to go. I'm thinking i'll be running an MMJ cable through the hole to the basement where a linux box will be set up. I want to do this because my desk space is very limited and i like the clean simplistic look of just the terminal. It'll be a pretty nifty looking setup once its up and running.
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That's the way my home office was set up many years ago, a dual-port terminal on my desk, a relatively quiet rarely used daisywheel printer on the sideboard, and the big hot and noisy S-100 Unix box and its line printer in the basement; the cables are even still in place ;-). The trouble doing that with PCs these days is that you need to access DVD drives, USB sticks (floppies?) etc. fairly regularly...
 
MikeS said:
That's the way my home office was set up many years ago, a dual-port terminal on my desk, a relatively quiet rarely used daisywheel printer on the sideboard, and the big hot and noisy S-100 Unix box and its line printer in the basement; the cables are even still in place ;-). The trouble doing that with PCs these days is that you need to access DVD drives, USB sticks (floppies?) etc. fairly regularly...
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Not really a problem, I only really plan on using it to read/write email, IRC, use Elinks, and RSS, i might even try learning LaTeX, so I could do word processing (I'm a student, so I frequently have to write papers) I dont think with the stuff I'm using i'm going to do needs to access any drives that often. ;)
 
There might be a way to use the terminal in Windows 9x. If you have it boot into DOS mode you can use the command: CTTY COMx. Replace x with the number of the serial port. I am not sure if this would work in these versions of Windows, but it definitely works in pure DOS.

If you are going to go with Linux I recommend Ubuntu because everything is set up automatically for you (you will have to set up the serial terminal on your own though).
 
Old Computers said:
There might be a way to use the terminal in Windows 9x. If you have it boot into DOS mode you can use the command: CTTY COMx. Replace x with the number of the serial port. I am not sure if this would work in these versions of Windows, but it definitely works in pure DOS.

If you are going to go with Linux I recommend Ubuntu because everything is set up automatically for you (you will have to set up the serial terminal on your own though).
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So in ubuntu will the terminal automatically be detected by the PC on power on? So everything will "just work"? that would be awesome.
 
I do not believe that it would do that for the serial terminal. You would have to follow the steps with the tutorial link I posted earlier. On my computer the /dev directory does not have any serial tty's listed.

With everything else Ubuntu will detect and configure itself for the proper operation.
 
Old Computers said:
I do not believe that it would do that for the serial terminal. You would have to follow the steps with the tutorial link I posted earlier. On my computer the /dev directory does not have any serial tty's listed.

With everything else Ubuntu will detect and configure itself for the proper operation.
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So if i followed those instructions, would the terminal automatically be activated on power on?
 
I believe so. It should give you a login prompt.

If it does not say anything like that you might need to either change the terminal's settings or press a button on the terminal. Are you familiar with the setup menu or switches on your terminal?
 
Yeah, the terminal settings shouldnt be too hard, I just need them to match whats on the PC, right?

I'm currently needing a new power supply for my linux PC, so I cant really test anything right now unfortunately
 
Yes. That is all you need to do. I believe that the baud rates are specified in the modifications to the one config file the tutorial tells you to modify.

Do you have a computer you could boot to DOS?
 
Not that is easily accessible, I'll probably just have to wait till i can get my linux machine up and running. Plus, i still need an MMJ to DB9 adapter anyway.
 
Okay. It's not necessary. It's just really easy to use a terminal in DOS in case you wanted to test the terminal out quickly.
 
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