TheCommunicator

Debugging an Arduino or STM32

Connect the board via USB, select the port and baud rate (typically 115200), enable ECHO and timestamps, then use the send bar for AT commands or debug commands.

Remote Serial Access via TCP Server

Connect to a serial device on one machine, enable the TCP Server, then access it from remote machines using TCP mode — full bidirectional bridge.

Protocol Trace Capture

Enable HEX display and Extended timestamps for millisecond precision, start Capture to File, and log complete protocol exchanges for offline analysis.

Binary Protocol Debugging

Use HEX send mode for raw byte sequences (e.g., Modbus frames), control character tags for mixed text/binary, and inter-character delay for slow UART processors.

Measuring Response Times

Set Delta timestamps to measure exact inter-message delays. Open the Speed Monitor for real-time throughput visualization.

File Transfer to Embedded Devices

Drag and drop files onto the terminal for ZMODEM transfers with error correction and resume capability.

Testing Without Hardware

Create virtual serial port pairs with socat and test communication between two adw-comm instances — a full loopback test environment.

Quick Start

1. Launch TheCommunicator from the terminal or GNOME Activities
2. Select Serial or TCP from the connection type dropdown
3. For serial: select a port from the dropdown; for TCP: enter host and port
4. Click the Connect button
5. Type in the terminal to send data to the device
6. Incoming data is displayed with full ANSI/VT100 support

Header Bar

Send Bar

The send bar lets you compose and send messages in multiple formats:

Input formats:

• ASCII: Plain text with embedded control character tags. Line ending appended automatically.
• HEX: Space or comma-separated hexadecimal byte values (e.g., 48 65 6C 6C 6F)
• Decimal: Space or comma-separated decimal byte values 0–255 (e.g., 72 101 108 108 111)

Control characters in ASCII mode: <NUL> <SOH> <STX> <ETX> <EOT> <ENQ> <ACK> <BEL> <BS> <TAB> <LF> <CR> <ESC> and more.

Serial Configuration

Baud rates: 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200 (default), 230400, 460800, 921600, 1000000, 2000000, 4000000.

Line format: Default is 8N1 (8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit).

Line endings:

• CR (\r) — Default, most serial terminals and embedded devices
• LF (\n) — Linux/Unix convention
• CR+LF (\r\n) — Windows convention, some modems

Flow control: None, Hardware (RTS/CTS), Software (Xon/Xoff).

TCP Server

Toggle the TCP server with the server icon button. When active, it listens on port 2222 and bridges all serial data bidirectionally to connected network clients.

• Serial → Network: All received serial data forwarded to every TCP client
• Network → Serial: Data from any TCP client forwarded to the serial port
• Status indicator: SRV label shows port and connected client count
• Persistence: Server auto-restarts when you reconnect

Use tools like nc, telnet, or another TheCommunicator instance in TCP mode for remote access.

Speed Monitor

Real-time RX/TX throughput graphs with three time periods:

Data sampled every 250 ms. Graphs auto-adapt to the current light/dark theme.

File Transfers

Supports three protocols via lrzsz:

Files can be sent by drag-and-drop onto the terminal window. A transfer popup shows progress, speed, and an abort button.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Port Detection

Automatically detects:

Permissions: If you cannot open a port, add your user to the dialout group: sudo usermod -aG dialout $USER

Troubleshooting

No ports shown: Plug in a USB-serial adapter and click Refresh. Check ls /dev/ttyUSB* /dev/ttyACM*.

Failed to open: Permission denied — add user to dialout group. Device busy — close other serial terminals. Device disconnected — reconnect and refresh.

No data displayed: Verify baud rate matches the remote device. Check line ending setting. Try enabling local echo. Switch to hex display for binary data.

Garbled text: Baud rate mismatch is the most common cause. Try different baud rates. Check data format (8N1).