joedoe55555 parent
Ok, so how do I build a teletype that I can connect via USB to my Mac? (And will vi work? :D)
While not exactly a teletype, Justin Ouelette's VT220 is cool:
http://jstn.cc/post/8692501831
http://jstn.cc/post/13476503553
http://jstn.cc/post/10831555077
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665509/digital-archaeology-hack...
What's most amazing to me is that this got so much press. Maybe OS X is ridiculously hard to set up, but I've been doing this on and off with my own VT 220 for the last 5 years on Linux. It's just... not that big of a deal. It's not archaeology, it's just pointing getty at /dev/ttyS0.
I've done it with an ADM-3A from the 70s too, it's just. Not. That. Tough.
http://imgur.com/bRnST here's me, years back, hacking on a VT 220
I don't think it's implied anywhere that it's hard or novel. He simply is more connected than you, that's all.
On the hardware level, does the VT 220 connect via a standard nine-pin serial port?
"standard nine-pin serial port"
Them's fightin' words, boy.
DEC had a DE9 serial port connector whose pinout is not the same as the later IBM PC DE9 serial ports.
IIRC, while the VT-220 had both 9-pin and 25-pin RS-232 ports, the 9-pin port was used to attach a printer. You also typically need a "null modem" adapter or cable to connect a terminal directly to a PC serial port (or USB serial adapter).
There's lots of original documentation for DEC VT series terminals here[1].
You're better off finding an existing ASCII teletype. Then all you need is a USB-to-RS232 interface (FTDI and PL2303 ones work on OS X) and, depending on the machine, an RS232 to 20ma current loop interface, or a modem. Then simply edit /etc/ttys to enable getty on the appropriate interface.
Original vi has what is called 'open mode', which is effectively a one-line window intended for printing terminals. Neither nvi nor vim provide this, but line mode (ex) is more efficient anyway.