title: Serialport module in node.js works only if minicom is active on the port
body: <p>I am using version 3.10 of the serialport module of Node.js.<br>
  I have a GSM modem attached to an Ubuntu machine's serialport and I am sending SMS through the modem. Here is the simplified code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>var serialPort = require("serialport");
  const Readline = serialPort.parsers.Readline;
  
  var portSerial = new serialPort("/dev/ttyUSB1", {
      baudrate: 115200,
      dataBits:8, stopBits:1, parity: 'none'
  }, function (err) {
      if (err)
        //log error here
      });
  
  parser = new Readline();
  
  portSerial.pipe(parser);
  
  portSerial.on("open", function(err) {
    if (err)
       return console.log("Error in opening serial port");
    console.log("Port opened");
  });
  
  portSerial.on('error', function(err) {
     //log error
  })
  
  //Send SMS
  setTimeout(function() {
    portSerial.write('AT+CMGF=1\nAT+CMGS="'+SMSphone + '"\n' +     
                SMSmessage +  '\032');
  }, 1000);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Yes, I am setting SMSphone and SMSmessage variables.  And the code is actually a bit more complex but the core code for sending SMS is as shown above.</p>
  
  <p>PROBLEM: All works fine if I am running minicom when the SMS is sent. The moment I exit minicom, the SMS do not go out.  portSerial.write stops working. </p>
  
  <p>It was all working fine until I upgraded the serialport version.</p>