Here are notes by brand name that were too specific to a certain terminal to be put elsewhere in this HOWTO. If you have some info to contribute on a certain terminal that is not covered elsewhere, it could go here. Various models often have much in common so such common information need only be written about once. It would be nice if for each terminal model, there were a set of links linking to most of the documentation relevant to that model (including escape codes). But it hasn't been done. Note that some VT (DEC) manuals are now available on the Internet. See and VT (DEC). Wyse has put the information from its manuals on the Internet. See Wyse Terminals.
The Adds terminal menu incorrectly used "Xon/Xoff" to mean any kind of flow control. True for which models ??
Adds, which made the Adds Viewpoint terminal, was taken over by Boundless Technologies in 1994 but they continued to use the "Adds" name.
CIT terminals were made in Japan in the 1980's for CIE Terminals. They ceased to be imported in the late 1980's. The company, CIE, still made CItoh printers (in 1997) but has no parts for its abandoned terminals. Ernie at (714) 453-9555 in Irvine CA sold (in 1997) some parts for models 224, 326, etc. but has nothing for the 80 and 101.
To save the Set-Up parameters press ^S when in Set-Up mode. cit80: Contrast: knob on rear of terminal, cit101e: Brightness: use up/down arrow keys in Set-Up mode.
Don't confuse IBM terminals with IBM PC monitors. Many IBM terminals don't use ASCII but instead use an 8-bit EBCDIC code. It's claimed that in EBCDIC the bit order of transmission is reversed from normal with the high-order bit going first. The IBM mainframe communication standards are a type of synchronous communication in block mode (sends large packets of characters). Two standards are "BISYNC" and "SNA" (which includes networking standards). Many of their terminals connect with coax cable (RG62A/U) and naive persons may think the "BNC" connecter on the terminal is for ethernet (but it's not).
While this IBM system is actually more efficient than what is normally used in Linux, terminals meeting this IBM standard will not currently work with Linux. However, some IBM terminals are asynchronous ASCII terminals and should work with Linux on PC's. The numbers 31xx may work with the exception that 317x and 319x are not ASCII terminals. Before getting an IBM terminal, make sure there is a termcap (terminfo) for it. If their isn't, it likely will not work with Linux. Even if there is a terminfo, it may not work. For example, there is a termcap for 327x but the 3270 is an EBCDIC synchronous terminal.
The 3270 series includes the 3278 (late 1970's), 3279 with color and graphics, and the 3274 terminal controller (something like the 3174). They may be used for both BISYNC and SNA. The 3290 has a split screen (splits into quarters).
The synchronous IBM terminals don't connect directly to the IBM mainframe, but connect to a "terminal controller" (sometimes called "cluster controller" or "communication controller"). Some of these controllers can convert a synchronous signal to asynchronous so that in this case a synchronous terminal could indirectly connect to a Unix-like host computer via its serial port. But there is still a major problem and that is block transmission. See section Block Mode.
It's claimed that the Aux port is DCE and uses a straight-thru cable.
These are antiques and represent the oldest terminals. They are like remotely controlled typewriters but are large and noisy. Made by the Teletype Corp., the first models were made in the 1920's and predate the computer by over 30 years. Early models used electro-mechanical relays and rotating distributors instead of electronics. Their Baudot code was only 5-bits per character as compared to 7-bit ASCII. See the book "Small Computer Systems Handbook" by Sol Libes, Hayden Books, 1978: pp. 138-141 ("Teletypes").
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) made the famous VT series of terminals including the commonly emulated VT100.
In 1995 DEC sold their terminal business to Boundless Technologies. Boundless went bankrupt in 2003 but emerged from bankruptcy in 2006 as a division of "Visual Technologies". Then in 2008 they were acquired by Video Display Corporation and given to their Z-AXIS subsidiary located near Rochester, New York. The Boundless name and url have been retained.
Detailed VT terminal information, some manuals, and history is at http://www.vt100.net/. Other information is available at Shuford's Website.
VT220: Some have a BNC connector for video output (not for input). Sometimes people erroneously think this is for an ethernet connection.
VT510, 520, 525: Supports full DTR/DSR flow control. Some are "low emissions" models. The 520 is multi-session and the 525 has colors for highlighting.
Dorio is a lower quality model which can emulate many other terminals. The "sco unix console" is claimed to be a powerful emulation using the "scoansi" terminfo.
The terminal maker Links was taken over by Wyse.
Qume was taken over by Wyse in the early 1990s.
For detailed manual-like information on old terminals see http://www.wyse.com/service/support/kbase/wyseterm.asp. This information includes specs, lists of escape sequences, part lists, FAQs, setup info, etc. Thanks to Wyse for providing this even though as of 2006 they are no longer making text terminals.
Wyse terminals were lower in cost than other brands and they captured a major share of the market. There were concerns about the quality of these terminals, especially the Wyse 50. But the large number of failure reports (other than Wyse 50) may be due in part to the large number of Wyse terminals in use.
Reported not to last very long.
Display adjustments (must remove cover): Brightness VR202, Height VR302, Width VR101 (also affects height). If you want to use it in Native Personality, then the arrow-key codes will conflict with the codes used in vi (such as ^L). To fix this set "Application key mode" with ESC ~ 3. This results in the arrow keys sending 0xd1 - 0xd4. Due to a bug in the readline interface of the Bash shell, you need to edit /etc/inputrc so that the arrow keys will work in Bash. See Bugs in Bash
Can emulate VT52/VT100/VT200. Press F3 for setup. After moving left/right to go a menu "icon", press space to select it. Scroll thru setup menus with up/down keys. Press F3 at any time to reenter setup (without loosing any settings).
Here is the setup Menus of the Wyse99GT (late 1980's). Note that TERM means "termination" (character) and not "terminal".
WYSE 99-GT Terminal Set-Up as used at the University of CA, Irvine
by David Lawyer, April 1990
F1 DISP:
COLUMNS=80 LINES=24 CELL SIZE=10 X 13
STATUS LINE=STANDARD BACKGROUND=DARK SCROLL SPEED=JUMP
SCREEN SAVER=OFF CURSOR=BLINK BLOCK DISPLAY CURSOR=ON
ATTRIBUTE=CHAR END OF LINE WRAP=ON AUTO SCROLL=ON
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
F2 GENERAL:
PERSONALITY=VT 100 ENHANCE=ON FONT LOAD=OFF
COMM MODE=FULL DUPLEX RCVD CR=CR SEND ACK=ON
RESTORE TABS=ON ANSWERBACK MODE=OFF ANSWERBACK CONCEAL=OFF
WIDTH CHANGE CLEAR=OFF MONITOR=OFF TEST=OFF
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
F3 KEYBRD:
KEYCLICK=OFF KEYLOCK=CAPS KEY REPEAT=ON
RETURN=CR ENTER=CR FUNCT KEY=HOLD
XMT LIMIT=NONE FKEY XMT LIMIT=NONE BREAK=170MS
LANGUAGE=US MARGIN BELL=OFF PRINTER RCV=OFF
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
F4 COMM:
DATA/PRINTER=AUX/MODEM MDM RCV BAUD RATE=9600 MDM XMT BAUD RATE=9600
MDM DATA/STOP BITS=8/1 MDM RCV HNDSHAKE=NONE MDM XMT HNDSHAKE=NONE
MDM PARITY=NONE AUX BAUD RATE=9600 AUX DATA/STOP BITS=8/1
AUX RCV HNDSHAKE=NONE AUX XMT HNDSHAKE=NONE AUX PARITY=NONE
(There is a main port (Modem=MDM) and an Auxiliary Port (AUX)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
F5 MISC 1:
WARNING BELL=ON FKEY LOCK=OFF FEATURE LOCK=ON
KEYPAD=NUMERIC DEL=DEL/CAN XFER TERM=EOS
CURSOR KEYS=NORMAL MARGIN CTRL=0 DEL FOR LOW Y=ON
GIN TERM=CR CHAR MODE=MULTINATIONAL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
F6 MISC 2:
LOCAL=OFF SEND=ALL PRINT=NATIONAL
PORT=EIA DATA SEND AREA=SCREEN PRINT AREA=SCREEN
DISCONNECT=60 MSEC SEND TERM=NONE PRINT TERM=NONE
PRINT MODE=NORMAL VT100 ID=VT100 POUND=US
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
F7 TABS: You should see several "T" characters spaced 8 dots apart.
If you don't, hit backspace.
F8 F/KEYS: Normally you will see no definitions for the Function Keys
here (unless someone has set them up and saved them). This means that
they will normally generate their default settings (not displayed here).
<ctrl><F5> shows the "user defined definition" of the F5 key, etc.
F9 A/BACK: Normally not defined: ANSWERBACK =
F10 EXIT: Selecting "DEFAULT ALL" will make the factory default settings
the default.
HINTS on use of WY-99GT User's Guide: Note that much that is missing from this Guide may be found in the WY-99GT Programmer's Guide. The VT100 emulation (personality) is known as ANSI and uses ANSI key codes per p. A-10+ even though the keyboard may be ASCII. A sub-heading on p. A-13 "ASCII Keyboard" also pertains to VT100 because it has an "ANSI KEY ..." super-heading a few pages previously. But not all ASCII keyboard headings pertain to VT100 since they may fall under a non-ANSI personality super-heading which may found be a few pages previously. Appendix H is the "ANSI Command Guide" except for the VT52 (ANSI) personality which is found in Appendix G.
When exiting set-up using F12, hitting space changes "no" to "yes" to save the set-up. The sentence to the left of this no/yes is about "vertical alignment" and has nothing to do with this no/yes for saving the set-up (confusing menu design).
Has 10x20 character cells. Can emulate DEC VT320. Uses 45 watts power. Later models were 185e.
ES after the model number means low emissions: low magnetic field, etc.
END OF Text-Terminal-HOWTO