Reading from /dev/serial0 using cat quits working after reading with python program

Question

Using 2020-12-02-raspios-buster-armhf-lite I have a GPS that outputs TTL connected to the UART pins (pins 4, 6, 8, 10) with serial login disabled. After first booting up I can see output from the GPS if I cat /dev/serial0 (output masked for privacy).

$ cat /dev/serial0 | tr [0-9] X
$GPGSV,X,X,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX*XX
$GPGSV,X,X,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX*XX
$GLGSV,X,X,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,*XE
$GLGSV,X,X,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,,XX,XX,XXX,*XX
$GNGLL,XXXX.XXXXX,N,XXXXX.XXXXX,W,XXXXXX.XX,A,A*XX
^C

I can also run a python program to receive output.

$ cat gps.py
#!/usr/bin/python3
import serial
import re
sp = serial.Serial('/dev/serial0', 9600, timeout=1.0)
sp.flushInput()
while True:
    try:
        data = sp.read_until()
        print(re.sub('[0-9]', 'X', data.decode('ascii')))
    except serial.SerialTimeoutException:
        print('Timeout.')
        continue
    except KeyboardInterrupt:
        print('Interrupt.')
        break;
print('Exiting...')
sp.close()
$ ./gps.py 
$GPGSV,X,X,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,,XX,XX,XXX,XX*XC
$GPGSV,X,X,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX*XD
$GPGSV,X,X,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX*XX
$GLGSV,X,X,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX*XX
$GLGSV,X,X,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,XX,XX,XX,XXX,*XX
^CInterrupt.
Exiting...

However, after running the python program I can no longer see output from cat /dev/serial0. The command returns immediately and no output is produced. I can rerun the python program and see output, but can no longer see anything from cat /dev/serial0 until I reboot. Can someone tell me why that is?

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 15 '21 at 20:41

So I found out if I reset the terminal line settings after I run the python program I can then cat from /dev/serial0 again. So the sequence is:

$ cat /dev/serial0
$ ./gps.py 
$ stty -F /dev/serial0 sane
$ cat /dev/serial0

Not sure how to get pySerial to reset things for me before I exit the python program.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 15 '21 at 14:05

My guess is close() function is hanging for some reason, so you are not able to read via cat because the port is not closed properly. Try adding the followings to make sure that is not happening:

import time
sp.reset_input_buffer()
time.sleep(0.3)
sp.reset_output_buffer()
time.sleep(0.3)
sp.close()

So what you are doing is basically flushing buffers, which is mostly recommended for these kind of uses. You might also want to check Pyserial API documentation for further information.

Reading from /dev/serial0 using cat quits working after reading with python program

2 Answers2