Recently, I needed to attach a serial cable to my GoFlex Home, following the instructions at http://cyanlabs.co.uk/tutorials/seagate-goflex-home-recovery-via-serial. Some of the GoFlex Homes come with a header for the serial port already installed on the PCB, but mine was simply bare solder pads with holes (2 rows of 5). The usual advice is to solder the wires of your serial cable converter to these pads, but for those challenged with a soldering iron, like me, that's a problem.
Instead I used wire wrap terminals (Wikipedia:Wire Wrap). I simply cut the bottom off some wire wrap terminals to about 1/8 inch, and used the wire wrap tool to push them into the pad holes on the PCB. It takes a fair amount of force. Then, I could easily connect the jumper cables of my serial/usb converter with no soldering. As a bonus, it is easy to swap the jumpers around. In my case, I needed to swap the TX and RX cables for some reason.
Unfortunately, since wire wrap is a fading technology, the tool is rather expensive ($37 seems to be the going price on ebay). Ask around. Maybe one of your older friends has one in his toolbox he can loan you. You might be able to get away with using needle nose pliars, but that can be risky. You could easily slip and damage your device. Maybe someone can come up with a cheaper solution.
Parts:
1. Serial/USB Converter: Search ebay for "usb ttl PL2303". Be sure to get one with the jumper cables. About $1.60.
2. Wire Wrap Tool: search for "WSU-30M". $37 and up. Ouch!
3. Wire Wrap Terminals: search for "wire wrap T46" on ebay. 10 pieces goes for about $1.20. I actually bought my terminals decades ago, but I'm *pretty sure* T46 is the right kind.
Instead I used wire wrap terminals (Wikipedia:Wire Wrap). I simply cut the bottom off some wire wrap terminals to about 1/8 inch, and used the wire wrap tool to push them into the pad holes on the PCB. It takes a fair amount of force. Then, I could easily connect the jumper cables of my serial/usb converter with no soldering. As a bonus, it is easy to swap the jumpers around. In my case, I needed to swap the TX and RX cables for some reason.
Unfortunately, since wire wrap is a fading technology, the tool is rather expensive ($37 seems to be the going price on ebay). Ask around. Maybe one of your older friends has one in his toolbox he can loan you. You might be able to get away with using needle nose pliars, but that can be risky. You could easily slip and damage your device. Maybe someone can come up with a cheaper solution.
Parts:
1. Serial/USB Converter: Search ebay for "usb ttl PL2303". Be sure to get one with the jumper cables. About $1.60.
2. Wire Wrap Tool: search for "WSU-30M". $37 and up. Ouch!
3. Wire Wrap Terminals: search for "wire wrap T46" on ebay. 10 pieces goes for about $1.20. I actually bought my terminals decades ago, but I'm *pretty sure* T46 is the right kind.