I am trying to configure a Cisco (small business 300) via serial port.I read here:http://www.commandlinefu.com/commands/view/6130/use-screen-as-a-terminal-emulator-to-connect-to-serial-consolesThat I can use screen to connect to the switch, but when I try the commandscreen /dev/ttyUSB0 9600All I get is a bunch of weird characters.The gear is connected via a Logilink serial-usb adapter. I had found the name of the chip in that, but now I can't seem to find it again.This is on Debian 7.0, but I have tried it on a Linux Mint as well. Didn't work either.Tried minicom first, didn't work. Which was why I turned to Google and found the above site.It seems to work well with screen though, meaning I have just tried it on a windows 7+putty with the newest drivers and it produces the exact same output as with screen.So I am starting to think the damn dongle might be broken. 
Using screen to connect to Cisco console
debian;usb;console;serial console;cisco
As it turns out. The fault was neither the dongle, nor was it screen.The Small Business 300 series uses 115200 baud unlike the rest of cisco's equipment that uses 9600 baud.Using the command:screen /dev/ttyUSB1 115200Did the trick.Thanks for playing guys :)