How to use a MAC with OS X as a serial console for a Banana Pi M3 running Linux

Buy an USB serial TTL adapater like this

usb_ttl_adapter

For the chipset PL-2303HX one needs a driver. Try to find this

PL2303_MacOSX_1.6.0_20151022.zip

or a newer one. And install the package.

After a reboot you can connect the adapter. You should find a USB device with “ls -ld /dev/*usb*” like this

crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel   18,   3 Jul  8 09:39 /dev/cu.usbserial
crw-rw-rw-  1 root  wheel   18,   2 Jul  8 09:48 /dev/tty.usbserial

Now connect the cables. Ground ( black ) to ground. Red cable ( +5V ) stays unconnected. Connect the white cable RxD from the adapter to TX of the BananaPi and the green cable TxD from the adapter to RX of the BananaPi.

Open a “terminal” session and enter

screen /dev/tty.usbserial 115200 8N1

After booting the Pi you should see the boot process.