Xyplex terminal server via ttyd0

[ray at redshift.com]

Here's one for anyone bored out there :-)

I have a cluster here running FreeBSD and years back I got an old Xyplex
Maxserver 40 1640 terminal server off ebay.  Basically it's a box that has a
bunch of serial ports on it and one 10 mbit ethernet port.  You assign an IP# to
the ethernet port, then run a serial cable from one of the 40 ports on the back
to the COM1 serial port of your servers.

Okay, so no problem, works great...  except when it comes to terminal emulation.
 Something is a bit funky there and I can't track it down.  Here is where I am
stuck.  If anyone has any ideas, lay 'em on me.

The workstation is Windows XP running Putty SSH.  If I SSH into the server via
the network, everything works perfectly.

But if I telnet into the terminal server and end up at the ttyd0 (serial port 1
on the FreeBSD server), I get a console/login prompt okay, and I'm able to
login, but once I get to the bash prompt, the emulation is hosed.  For example,
if I do 'more' on a file, it just rolls over on itself as it displays.  Forget
vi or pico.  I've edited the /etc/ttys file and changed the following serial
port line (running kill -1 1 each time):

from:

ttyd0   "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600"   xterm   on secure

to all of the following - all with about the same results:

ttyd0   "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600"   cons25    on secure
ttyd0   "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600"   xterm-color   on secure
ttyd0   "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600"   vt100     on secure
ttyd0   "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600"   vt200     on secure
ttyd0   "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600"   ansi      on secure
ttyd0   "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600"   unknown   on secure
ttyd0   "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600"   network   on secure

I've tried export TERM=VT100 (right now my default is xterm-color).  I tried
naming away .profile, no luck.

I've read the Putty FAQ and the FreeBSD handbook, but still can't seem to hit on
what is causing the problem.  I don't quite get why going across the terminal
server would be so radically different than coming in via the network.

Anyone have any ideas off hand?  I can live with how it is now, since this is
just an emergency thing to reboot the server, but it would be nice to be able to
edit and view files, instead of just being limited to 'shutdown -r now' from the
serial port.

BTW, I tried telnet via MS-DOS and still the same... so it seems like it's not a
Putty issue per se, but maybe something having to do with how the emulation is
handled across the serial port vs. the network?

Any ideas would be most appreciated, thanks!

Ray