Setting up PuTTY or Tera Term for a Serial Connection to Stellaris Launchpad

My Stellaris Launchpad finally arrived today! What an awesome device! I am going to have a lot of fun with this. After verifying and playing with the qs-rgb demo, I decided it was time to try and connect to it serially. That is where trouble began, and I had to research. Hopefully, this blog will help somebody save a little time.

Windows Setup:

Device Manager window

Ensure your Stellaris Virtual Serial Port is available.

1. In your Windows Start Search type in Device Manager and open it.
2. In the Device Manager, expand the Ports (COM & LPT) group.
3. You should see something like what is on the right.
4. Make note of the port the device is using. In this case COM7.

Port Setting properties for Stellaris Virtual Serial Port

While you are here check the port settings.

1. Double click on the Stellaris Virtual Serial Port to bring up the device properties.
2. Click on the Port Settings Tab.
3. Ensure the following settings:

• Bits per second: 115200
• Data bits: 8
• Parity: None
• Stop bits: 1
• Flow Control: None

PuTTY Serial properties

Setting up PuTTY:

PuTTY Session properties

1. Open PuTTY and goto the Cattegory: Connection -> Serial
2. Verify the following settings:
• Serial line to connect to: COM7 (this is the port discovered from the Device Manager)
• Speed (baud): 115200
• Data bits: 8
• Stop bits: 1
• Parity: None
• Flow control: None
3. Goto Category: Session
4. Click the Connection type: Serial
5. Ensure Serial line is COM7 (the port discovered from the Device Manager)
6. Speed: 115200
7. Hint: you can save your settings as the Default Settings or some other Saved Sessions name to save you setup time in the future at this point by using the Saved Sessions input and the Save button.
8. Click the Open button at the bottom of the dialog
9. A terminal window will open
10. Type help and press the Enter key
11. You should see somehting like the image below
12. Congratulations! You are talking with your Stellaris Launchpad!

PuTTY terminal window

Setting up Tera Term

Tera Term Serial port setup

1.  Open Tera Term and navigate to the menu Setup -> Serial Port...
2. Ensure the following settings:
• Port: COM7 (the port discovered from the Device Manager)
• Baud Rate: 115200
• Data: 8 bit
• Parity: none
• Stop: 1 bit
• Flow control: none
3. Select the menu File -> New Connection
4. On the Tera Term: New connection dialog, verify the following:
• Serial is selected



Tera Term new connection

• Port: COM7 (the port discovered from the Device Manager)
5. Click OK
6. If you get a Cannot open COM7 error, reset the Launchpad by pressing the reset button on the board.
7. Type help and press the Enter key. You should see a terminal window like the one shown below.



Tera Term terminal window

8. Congratulations! You are talking with your Stellaris Launchpad!