AT Console over USB-C

This page shows you how to communicate with GLIDER through its USB-C connector using AT commands. The AT console is the recommended interface for everyday work - provisioning, configuration, firmware updates - and requires no special debug hardware.

tip

Looking for live logs and the full Zephyr shell? Use the RTT Console (J-Link) instead.

How it works

Internally, GLIDER pipes UART0 of the nRF9151 to an FT234XD USB-UART bridge chip. The moment you plug in a USB-C cable, the firmware powers up the bridge and starts accepting AT commands.

Signal	nRF9151 pin	Function
UART0 TX	P0.25	nRF91 → FT234XD RXD
UART0 RX	P0.24	nRF91 ← FT234XD TXD
USB_EN	P0.00	Powers the FT234XD (active high)
USB_DETECT	P0.26	Detects the cable (active low)

UART0 runs at 1 000 000 baud (configured in gauger_lte_nrf9151_common.dtsi).

When you connect the USB-C cable the firmware:

1. Detects the cable on USB_DETECT (P0.26).
2. After a 50 ms debounce, turns on USB_EN (P0.00) - the FT234XD boots.
3. Activates UART0 RX and starts processing AT commands.

Prerequisites

System packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-venv git

Membership in the dialout group

Linux restricts serial port access to members of the dialout group. Add yourself once:

sudo usermod -aG dialout $USER

caution

You must log out and log in again for the group change to take effect. Verify with:

groups | grep -o dialout
# should print: dialout

Verify the USB-C cable enumerates

Plug in GLIDER and check:

ls -l /dev/ttyUSB0
# crw-rw---- 1 root dialout ... /dev/ttyUSB0

If /dev/ttyUSB0 does not appear, check dmesg | tail -20 - you should see something like:

usb 1-2: new full-speed USB device
ftdi_sio 1-2:1.0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter detected
usb 1-2: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB0

If you see errors instead, the issue is hardware-side (wrong cable, faulty connector, FT234XD not getting power).

Full setup with a Python virtual environment

The recommended way to install the HARDWARIO command-line tools is inside a Python virtualenv. This isolates the packages from your system Python and works on every modern Linux distribution.

Step 1 - Verify python3-venv is installed

dpkg -l python3-venv | tail -1
# expect a line starting with "ii"

If it is missing:

sudo apt install python3-venv

Step 2 - Create the virtualenv

Inside your project folder:

python3 -m venv .venv

Step 3 - Activate the virtualenv

source .venv/bin/activate

Your shell prompt should now be prefixed with (.venv).

Step 4 - Install the required packages

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install west pyserial loguru rttt

What you just installed:

Package	Purpose
west	Meta-build tool used by Zephyr / nRF Connect SDK
pyserial	UART communication library
loguru	Structured logging
rttt	HARDWARIO console UI library - parses the @LOG: framing

Step 5 - Verify the installation

west --version
python3 -c "import serial, loguru, rttt; print('OK')"

Both commands should succeed.

Launching the console

In a terminal where the virtualenv is active:

source .venv/bin/activate
west serial-console

Defaults used by west serial-console:

• --port /dev/ttyUSB0
• --baudrate 1000000

If you have multiple devices, specify the port explicitly:

west serial-console --port /dev/ttyUSB1 --baudrate 1000000

The console keeps two streams separated:

• AT commands and responses - what you type and what GLIDER replies.
• @LOG: messages - live log lines that scroll past without interfering with the command line.

Useful files maintained by west serial-console:

• Command history: ~/.serial_console_history
• Full session transcript: ~/.serial_console_console
• Modem trace: ~/.serial_console.mtrace

A quick sanity check

AT
# OK

ATI
# "GLIDER-R1.1"

If OK appears, you are talking to the device.

Basic AT commands

Command	What it does
AT	Connection test - returns OK
AT+CLAC	Lists all registered AT commands
AT$HELP	Same as +CLAC but with hints
ATI	Device identification
AT+CGMI	Vendor name
AT+CGMM	Product name
AT+CGMR	Firmware revision
AT+CGSN	Serial number
AT$INFO?	Dump of all info fields (serial, claim token, …)
AT$REBOOT	Restart the device
AT&W	Save configuration to flash
AT&F	Factory reset (wipes all configuration)

Configuration over AT

AT$CONFIG=? # list every configurable key
AT$CONFIG="therm config show" # current thermometer slot bindings
AT$CONFIG="therm config 1 28ab12cd…" # bind slot 1 to a specific DS18B20
AT&W # save and reboot

Running shell commands from the AT console

The AT console can also execute any Zephyr shell command via AT$SHELL:

AT$SHELL="therm state"
AT$SHELL="therm scan"
AT$SHELL="therm scan --save"
AT$SHELL="kernel reboot cold"
AT$SHELL="log disable"
AT$SHELL="log enable wrn"

Firmware update

For a programmatic firmware update see the AT Commands reference (AT$FW).

Maintenance

Action	Command
Leave the virtualenv	deactivate
Upgrade the tools	pip install --upgrade west pyserial loguru rttt
Remove the virtualenv	rm -rf .venv
List installed packages	pip list

Troubleshooting

Permission denied on /dev/ttyUSB0

ls -l /dev/ttyUSB0
# crw-rw---- 1 root dialout ...

groups | grep dialout
# if "dialout" is missing:
sudo usermod -aG dialout $USER
# then log out / log in (or run: newgrp dialout)

The port is busy

Another terminal (screen, minicom, picocom, tio, …) is already holding it:

sudo lsof /dev/ttyUSB0
screen -ls && screen -wipe
killall screen minicom picocom tio 2>/dev/null

Logs arrive, but AT commands are not echoed back

Your terminal is sending CR only instead of LF or CRLF. west serial-console handles line endings automatically, but other terminals may not. For example, when using tio:

tio -b 1000000 -m INLCRNL,OCRNL /dev/ttyUSB0

OCRNL maps outgoing CR to LF.

Alternative terminals

If west serial-console is not available, any terminal that can do 1 000 000 baud works:

# tio (recommended alternative)
tio -b 1000000 -m INLCRNL,OCRNL /dev/ttyUSB0
# exit: Ctrl-T Q

# picocom
picocom -b 1000000 --omap crlf /dev/ttyUSB0
# exit: Ctrl-A Ctrl-X

# pyserial miniterm
python3 -m serial.tools.miniterm /dev/ttyUSB0 1000000
# exit: Ctrl-]