The code was tested on a ConnectOne Nano Socket. Same chipset as far as I know.

Yup, I am implying bugging in a DB9.

I used one of these while debugging the above code on a win7 netbook. But I agree, the converters are not good for everything and I have brands that do not work at all.

Or you could get a LCD with a serial back-pack to see what is going on. Either way, it will sure make debugging faster.