MB2HAL not fully compatible with LinuxCNC 2.9 ?

So if anyone else runs across this problem with an RS485 dongle and mb2hal, likely your files are all fine, the problem turned out to be with Debian 12 not adding the user to the group dialout (or requiring dialout to use /dev/ttyUSB0). Found coincidentally in this mail thread:

www.mail-archive.com/emc-users@lists.sou...ge.net/msg91974.html

if stat /dev/ttyUSB0 shows Gid: ( 20/ dialout), run the following:

sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER

I needed to restart the computer afterwards, likely there is a command to restart some subset and it would have worked, but a fresh restart worked as well.

Just in case even the above line does not work, type this in a terminal
sudo apt purge brltty*
Enter
-
Most Linux distros will install brltty if they detect a non standard keyboard, like having multimedia buttons and pots, smart card readers, fingerprint readers, etc.
Brltty is used for Braile keyboards.