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updated2026-10-04 23:40

 
LisaTerminal with Linux/UNIX(Mac)
DeviceApple Lisa
DifficultyVery easy
Time10 minutes
Steps4
This guide is by LisaGuide on iFixit and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0. ByteRot mirrors it for non-commercial preservation: formatting changed and photos resized for old browsers; full-size photos and the text are on the FTP in /DOCS/REPAIR. Original guide >>

Parts: DTECH USB to RS232 DB9; DB9 to DB25; DB25 Null Modem


Step 1 :: On Linux
[step 1 photo]
• In Terminal type: sudo apt-get install screen
• sudo screen /dev/ttyUSB0 9600
• Press ?A ? : (at the same time). Once you see a : prompt at the bottom of the screen type
• exec ::: /sbin/agetty -L -n 9600 ttyUSB0 vt100
• Press return a few times on the Lisa keyboard and the login prompt should appear.

Step 2 :: On macOS
[step 2 photo]
• Type: ls /dev/cu.*
• Copy the result that mentions USB
• Then type the following replacing serial with the previous result: screen /dev/serial 9600
• Press ?A ?:
• When the : prompt appears type
• exec ::: /usr/libexec/getty std.9600

Step 3 :: On Lisa
• Open LisaTerminal and set the settings to baud rate 9600 and set serial port to A.
• Plug the serial cable into serial port A.
• In MacWorks Plus and Macintosh System 6, the application Mac240 supports graphics and is generally fantastic for this type of connection.
• Mac240 can be acquired from Macintosh Garden.

Step 4 :: Uses
[step 4 photo]
• This was done so I could use mutt for email and w3m for web browsing
• mpg123 is great for music if your connected computer has speakers.

Credit
This guide is by LisaGuide on iFixit and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0. ByteRot mirrors it for non-commercial preservation: formatting changed and photos resized for old browsers; full-size photos and the text are on the FTP in /DOCS/REPAIR. Original guide >>
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