SNOOPER(1) BSD General Commands Manual SNOOPER(1)NAME
snooper -- a utility for capturing data flowing between serial devices
SYNOPSIS
snooper [-h]
snooper [-b baudrate] [-t] [-u] [-x] [-n] port0 port1
DESCRIPTION
snooper passes data transparently between two serial (RS232C) devices, capturing and logging the data and occasional comments you want to
insert into the logs.
It is useful for debugging or analyzing the communications protocol between two devices that would normally be connected directly to each
other, e.g. a digital camera and a personal computer. By sitting in the middle (after you connect the two devices to serial ports on your
Linux machine) snooper is able to capture data traveling in either direction while also passing it unmodified to the other device.
It is also possible to operate with a single serial device, using your console and keyboard as the second device.
OPTIONS -b baudrate
Specify baudrate to use. Default baudrate is 9600.
-t Include current time (in microseconds) with each write to the textual log file. See L under KEYBOARD COMMANDS, below.
-u Do not perform serial device locking. (This option is discouraged, and should never be necessary on a properly-configured Debian
system.)
-x Hex display only. (Even printable characters will be displayed in hex.)
-n Do not forward traffic between the two ports; useful when you have a splitter cable.
-h Help; presents a brief synopsis of the command line options.
KEYBOARD COMMANDS
snooper has a set of commands that act similar to those of vi.
Note that the characters transmitted into the serial ports will not be forwarded while snooper is in command parameter input mode. You
should therefore set the log file and so forth while the serial line has no activity.
L Switch textual log file. You'll be asked to answer the filename of the log file.
B Switch binary log file. You'll asked to answer which device to log, and the log file name. Please note that the binary log will
contain the input from the perspective of snooper. Therefore, if you would like to make a log of input of line 0 (thus the output
from device connected to line 0), you shold specify line 0. You should use a file that is local, or on a virtual disk, so that no
characters will be lost.
m add a memo line to the text log file. The memo line will contain a timestamp and the text you provide.
Q Quit.
c Reset the counter.
b Change the baudrate.
C Make the console act as one of the serial lines. ESC Go back to command mode. ^V Quote the next char (so that you can send ESC, for
example). ^X input a byte by its 2-character hexadecimal value (so that you can send any character you like). By tapping any other
key, that character will be sent to the line.
^L Repaint the screen.
An unrecognized command character will present a brief list of the valid command characters.
EXAMPLE
snooper /dev/ttyS0 /dev/ttyS1
AUTHOR
Jun-ichiro Itoh <itojun@itojun.org>
This man page was written by David Coe <davidc@debian.org> for the Debian project, and may be used by others under the terms of the GNU Gen-
eral Purpose License, version 2 or later.
Debian Januray 20, 2002 Debian
Check Out this Related Man Page
ports(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual ports(7)NAME
ports, port_names - Device (tty and lp) names for serial and parallel ports
SYNOPSIS
Default Serial Ports:
/dev/tty00
/dev/tty01 (not present on a single-port system)
Parallel Port:
/dev/lp0
DESCRIPTION
AlphaStation and AlphaServer systems provide one or two 9-pin serial communication ports. These ports are usually labelled 1 (COMM1) and 2
(COMM2), but they may be identified by different icons. Using the appropriate serial cable and terminator, you can connect a serial
printer, external modem, or character-cell terminal to a serial port. Most AlphaStation and AlphaServer systems also provide one parallel
port, for use with a parallel printer.
When you add a device to your system, the installation documentation may instruct you to map the device pathname to the port. These
devices are located in the /dev directory.
For serial-line ports, the two default device pathnames are: This pathname always maps to 1, COMM1, the lowest port number, an icon for a
terminal console, or the only serial port (on a single-port system). This pathname always maps to 2, COMM2, the next numbered port, or (if
one serial port is labeled with an icon for a terminal console) the remaining serial port.
If your system hardware has been extended to include additional serial ports, the pathnames /dev/tty02, /dev/tty03, and so forth, may also
be available to you. However, most systems have only /dev/tty00 and /dev/tty01 as the device pathnames for serial ports.
The one parallel port on an AlphaStation or AlphaServer may be labeled with the word printer or a printer icon. On some systems, the paral-
lel port may not be labeled. The device pathname for the parallel port is /dev/lp0. Currently, Tru64 UNIX does not fully support parallel
printers, so fewer devices are connected to this port as compared to serial ports.
If you are connecting a terminal console to your system, it must be connected to the serial port mapped to /dev/tty00. For other serial
devices, it does not matter which of the serial ports you choose for the connection. For example, suppose you are setting up a system that
has two serial ports, labeled 1 and 2. You intend to use a serial-line terminal rather than a workstation monitor as the system console and
also want to connect a serial-line printer to the system. In this case, you must connect the terminal to the port labeled 1 (with the
device pathname /dev/tty00). Therefore, you must connect the printer to the remaining port labeled 2 (with the device pathname /dev/tty01).
If, for the same type of system, you intend to use a workstation monitor as the system console, it does not matter which serial port you
use for a serial-line printer or modem. In other words, you can connect the printer to either port 1 (with pathname /dev/tty00) or port 2
(with pathname /dev/tty01). When prompted to enter a /dev/tty** pathname by the lprsetup script or the Print configuration tool in the CDE
Application Manager, you would specify /dev/tty00 if you connected the printer to port 1 or /dev/tty01 if you connected the printer to port
2.
See the System Administration manual for more information on setting up consoles (including remote consoles) and printers. See the
modem(7) reference page for more information on setting up modems.
SEE ALSO
Commands: lprsetup(8)
Devices: ace(7), modem(7)
System Administration delim off
ports(7)