# Source: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-nfc-rfid-on-raspberry-pi/pi-serial-port.md

# Adafruit NFC/RFID on Raspberry Pi

## Pi Serial Port

The easiest way to use libnfc with the Adafruit NFC Breakout is via _serial UART,_ since it's well-supported by libnfc out of the box. Unfortunately the serial UART port on the Pi is already dedicated to other purposes, and needs to be freed up for libnfc…  
  
The following steps (based on a clean Raspberry Pi OS installation) should make the serial UART available to us:

### Using the Desktop/GUI “Full” OS

You’ll find these settings in the Raspberry Pi Configuration tool. From the Raspberry menu at the top-left…

Go to the “Interfaces” tab and you’ll see two options “Serial Port” and “Serial Console.” Toggle _both_ of these away from their default states. Serial Port should be _enabled,_ Serial Console _disabled._ Then click “OK.” Reboot when prompted.

_With each new OS release, it’s normal that some configuration options may move to different menus or positions. If you can’t find it where shown, check under the other top-level menu options…even if moved, the name will likely remain similar._

![rfid___nfc_gui-serial-1.png](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/108/815/medium640/rfid___nfc_gui-serial-1.png?1644360436)

![rfid___nfc_gui-serial-2.png](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/108/816/medium640/rfid___nfc_gui-serial-2.png?1644360443)

### Using the “Lite” Command-Line OS

These options can be found in the `raspi-config` tool, which must be run as root:

```auto
sudo raspi-config
```

Navigate down to “Interface Options” and then “Serial Port.” Answer “No” to the login shell question, and “Yes” to the serial port hardware.

Navigate back to the main menu, tab to the “Finish” button and reboot when prompted.

_With each new OS release, it’s normal that some configuration options may move to different menus or positions. If you can’t find it where shown, check under the other top-level menu options…even if moved, the name will likely remain similar._

![rfid___nfc_cmdline-serial-1.png](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/108/817/medium640/rfid___nfc_cmdline-serial-1.png?1644360613)

![rfid___nfc_cmdline-serial-2.png](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/108/818/medium640/rfid___nfc_cmdline-serial-2.png?1644360618)

![rfid___nfc_cmdline-serial-3.png](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/108/819/medium640/rfid___nfc_cmdline-serial-3.png?1644360623)

![rfid___nfc_cmdline-serial-4.png](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/108/820/medium640/rfid___nfc_cmdline-serial-4.png?1644360627)

- [Previous Page](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-nfc-rfid-on-raspberry-pi/overview.md)
- [Next Page](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-nfc-rfid-on-raspberry-pi/building-libnfc.md)

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- [Adafruit PN532 RFID/NFC Breakout and Shield](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pn532-rfid-nfc.md)
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- [Adafruit's Raspberry Pi Lesson 5. Using a Console Cable](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-raspberry-pi-lesson-5-using-a-console-cable.md)
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