I cannot really use the output_log as we run a suite comprised of several scripts some of which don't use control::cli and some are not even perl so I need some external means of logging the output of the unit.

As I said before this is not an issue with the device or control::cli or minicom . All commands run fine either manually or scripted I just cannot log the output of the unit. I suspect that minicom is taking over and configuring the tty causing control::cli to not be able to read what it is expecting

I have tried using intercepttty to 'clone' the serial port and this sort of works but intercepttty does seem to be a little flaky and doesn't log everything .