UART guide

UART is the technician’s window into the bootloader and the console of a TV. These guides show how to use it without damaging the board.

The pages below cover finding the port, wiring it correctly, and reading what the TV prints. Always check signal levels first and prefer read-only commands. The guides assume a USB-UART adapter with 3.3 V logic and a multimeter, and they stress the same rule throughout: never feed power from the adapter into the board and always save the log. Each page can be read on its own, so you can go straight to the step where you are stuck. Together they take you from a first look at the board to a verified result, and each one links to the matching function of the program for readers who want to try it on their own bench.

• TV UART: how to find the port and connect safely
  How to find UART on a TV board, what to check with a multimeter, typical port settings.
• Reading a TV boot log over UART
  How to capture and read a TV boot log from the UART: stages, typical messages, garbage and silence, and how to save a log.

Where to start

Start with connecting to a TV UART, then continue with reading a boot log. If the log points to storage trouble, see the Firmware and dumps guide.