Terminal
Software
Before
your KM8 can do anything useful, you need to Switch it ON.
Switching
ON your KM9A
KeyMaker
9A USB
There
are 2 versions of the KM9AUSB board - the one above and this one,
functionality for use on ThinkPads is identical.
Plug
in your Mini USB cable into your KM9USBZ and plug the other end of your
USB cable into the USB port of a PC or Laptop that is Switched ON.
You
turn ON your KM9 by sliding the power Switch to the right as per the
first image above or by plugging in the USB connector on the board above
which does NOT have a power switch..
You
should the see the Green Power LED light up and stay ON.
You
should see a few quick flashes of the Red TX and RX LEDs
Your
KM9AUSB is switched ON and ready to go.
To
Switch your KM9AUSB OFF slide the Power Switch to the LEFT or unplug the
USB connector and the Green
Power LED will turn off.
There are a lot of different Terminal Software
programs out there, most are free.
Windows
comes with a Terminal Program called Hyperlink which you can access by
Start - All Programs - Accessories - Communications - Hyper Terminal.
The
choice is yours, almost any Terminal Software should work with
KeyMaker 9A (KM9A)
I
prefer to use a program called Tera Term which is available for Download
here tera
term save the downloaded file to your computer then run the exe
file just like any other Windows program to Install it.
If
you run another operating system then you will need to search the net
for a suitable Terminal Software program for your Operating System.
The
following is about Tera Term running under Windows however you can use
this as a guide for most Terminal Software.
The
USB interface on KM9A and the FTDI Drivers act as a USB Serial COM
Port to which Windows assigns a COM Port Number.
This
is a good time to be introduced to the switches and buttons on your KM9A
Let's
start with those 3 slider switches on the left side.
-
Top
one is not used by KM9A Firmware, it is used when the board
functions as an Arduino board for Boot Loading, best left switched
over to the left as in the image above.
-
The
middle one, switches VCC to either 5V or 3.3V, leave it on 3.3V
switched over to the LEFT.
-
The
bottom Switch is the Power Switch, OFF to the Left, ON to the Right.
Down
the bottom left, you have the RESET Button, which we will be using further
down this page
On
the right, the 4 wire cable has been plugged in over the I2C Header pins,
NOTE: the RED wire goes over the VCC pin.
On
the top left you also have the ZAP SVP button.
The
other version of the KM9A board
Let's
start with those 2 slider switches on the left side.
-
Top
one is not used by KM9A Firmware, it is used when the board
functions as an Arduino board for Boot Loading, best left switched
over to the left as in the image above.
-
The
middle one, switches VCC to either 5V or 3.3V, leave it on 3.3V
switched over to the LEFT.
Down
the bottom left, you have the RESET Button, which we will be using further
down this page
On
the right, the 4 wire cable has been plugged in over the I2C Header pins,
NOTE: the RED wire goes over the VCC pin.
On
the top left you also have the ZAP SVP button.
NOTE:
This version of the KM9A board does not have an ON/OFF switch, it is
switched ON and OFF by plugging in or disconnecting the USB cable.
I
should mention at this point that it is better to turn ON KM9A before
you run your Terminal Software.
The
reason being that until KM9A is turned on its COM Port doesn't exist,
so your Terminal Program would not find it which can be frustrating if
you don't realize what's happening.
So
turn KM9A ON first, then run your Terminal Software.
Select the COM Port that was allocated to KM9 during
the USB Driver installation.
If you are not sure which COM Port KM9A is
attached to, see further down this page for help in finding the
right COM Port
Set up the Serial Port on your Terminal software to;
COM PORT:
Baud rate: 115200
Data: 8 bit
Parity: none
Stop: 1 bit
Flow control: none
Tansmit delay: 1 msec/char 5 msec/line
Save all these setting so you don't have to do this
again.
On some Terminal programs you also need to CONNECT
before anything useful happens.
The drop down screen for making these settings in
Tera term is shown below
You get there by - Setup - Serial port..
Each of the settings has a drop down menu which
allows you to chose the correct settings, click OK when done.
To save those settings, you would chose - Setup -
Save setup - type in a name and click Ok, now each time Tera term is
run it starts up with all the correct settings.
Press the Reset button on KM9A, Bottom left of board
brass coloured push button labelled RESET.
You
should see KM9A's Initial Product Activation Screen, the background and
Text colours will vary depending on your settings.
Don't
concern yourself with Activation right now that is fully covered later,
for now lets get KM9A to display something.
If
nothing appears on your screen.
Watch
the KM9A board while pressing and releasing KM9A's RESET button which is
next to the illuminated GREEN Power LED.
Each
time you press and release the reset button you should see a RED LED on
middle of the KM9 board flash very briefly, that is the TX LED which
flashes any time serial data is being sent out by KM9A to your computer
via the USB Port.
If
the RED LED flashes it confirms all is well as your board is indeed
sending out the Initial Activation Screen to your computer but you are
not seeing it.
The
usual cause for not seeing anything on the screen is you have selected a
valid COM Port but the correct COM Port for KM9A.
Finding
the COM Port KM9 is attached to
The
easiest way to find out which COM port KM9A is on is to
Click
on START, Right Click My Computer - Properties
The
System Properties window should appear.
Select
the Hardware tab by clicking on it, then click on Device Manager
In
the Device Manager Window, scroll down until you see Ports (COM &
LPT)
Click
on the + symbol on the left of that line + Ports (COM & LPT)
Which
call cause it to Expand and display all available Ports.
Watch
that list while you switch KM9A OFF for a few seconds then switch KM9A
back on again.
The
COM port that disappears each time you turn off KM9 and re-appears when
you switch KM9A back on again is the COM Port assigned to KM9A by
Windows and the FTDI Drivers.
Now
you know for sure what is the correct COM Port, go back to your terminal
Software and select that COM Port.
On
my PC, when KM9A is switched ON, USB Serial Port (COM21) is displayed
.
When
KM9A is switched OFF, USB Serial Port (COM21) disappears, so my KM9A is
attached to COM Port 21
NOTE:
In the images displayed below, THE BACKGROUND is NOT from a KM9A, ignore
the background.
Setting
Tera Term colours for background and text can be customized by clicking
Setup - Window..
To
set Text colour, click the Text Radio Button and move the R G B Sliders,
then click OK
To
set Background colour, click the Background Radio Button and move the R G
B Sliders, then Click OK
Now
that you can interact with KM9A by using a Terminal Program it is time to deal
with Activation
Disclaimer
I make no warranty that any of my
information is correct, or safe, or does or does not breach any warranty
clause, or anything else, it is up to you to decide if you will
follow all or any of the instructions to recover the Supervisor Password
from a TP. It is up to you to decide, I am not responsible for the
results or for any consequential or incidental damages whatsoever.
