[wtroughton]

> For debugging and monitoring, developers can access the console output of the board through the built-in microUSB type-B connector.

As a software developer who's interested in this but has no experience with low-level hardware interface, how does one debug with the microUSB connector? What displays the console output?

[fulafel]

It shows up as a "USB serial" device, a USB standard for emulating RS232 serial ports. Not to be confused with the S in USB :)

You can use a terminal program, or eg GNU Screen, on the /dev/tty?? device on Unixy systems (COM ports on Windows).

[timidger]

As a software developer that, at one point in a job, was forced to confront hardware head on because the code I was writing was firmware, I'm guessing they mean something like Kermit. A simple tool to get the output from an embedded device.

[luismarques]

It's just exposes a UART (serial port) to USB device. With the right driver you'll get a serial port (ttyUSB, COM port, etc.) in your OS/

[ezconnect]

The USB acts as a serial interface that spits out a lot of text for you to consume. They probably have a dedicated core for debugging on the silicon.