picocom is a lightweight terminal emulation program for communicating with devices through serial ports. It provides a straightforward way to configure modems, access serial consoles and troubleshoot embedded hardware without the additional menus and configuration facilities associated with larger communication programs.
The application operates directly within an existing terminal, passing characters between the user and a connected serial device. Its small footprint makes it useful on resource-constrained systems, while its command-line options provide control over the communication parameters needed by different devices. It is particularly well suited to occasional serial console access and interactive hardware testing.
Although its interface is deliberately minimal, picocom provides considerably more control than a simple stream of characters between two devices. Users can adjust serial settings, control how characters are interpreted, manage modem control signals and invoke external programs to exchange files with connected equipment.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Connects directly to serial ports through a command-line interface.
- Supports configurable baud rates, including non-standard rates on supported systems.
- Provides configurable data bits, parity and stop bits.
- Supports hardware RTS/CTS and software XON/XOFF flow control.
- Offers configurable character mappings for received and transmitted data.
- Provides optional local echo with separate character mapping controls.
- Supports logging serial communication to a file.
- Allows external commands to send and receive files using transfer utilities.
- Supports configurable escape characters for interactive command handling.
- Provides control over RTS and DTR modem signals.
- Offers configurable initialization strings and exit behaviour.
- Supports command-line control of serial port reset and hangup behaviour.
Website: github.com/npat-efault/picocom
Support:
Developer: Nick Patavalis
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
picocom is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Terminal-Based Serial Terminals | |
|---|---|
| tio | Straightforward TTY I/O with profiles and clean command syntax |
| minicom | Menu-driven comms tool with dialing, scripting, and capture |
| ComChan | Fast Rust monitor with plotting, logging, and TUI workflow |
| picocom | Minimal modem tester for low-overhead device console access |
| Commy | Small cross-platform utility for UART, TTY, and COM devices |
| ssterm | Python-based console app with easy setup and output formatting |
| opencu | Portable cu-style console for quick Linux device connections |
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