*BSD News Article 85729


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From: gbuchanan@localhost.on.sympatico.ca (Gardner Buchanan)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: Serial Console
Date: 24 Dec 1996 22:35:10 GMT
Organization: Sympatico
Lines: 33
Message-ID: <59plqu$82n$1@news1.sympatico.ca>
References: <32b807eb.0@news.fast.net.uk> <59eukp$a46@corn.cso.niu.edu> <59nb1p$e6f@viewp.demon.co.uk>
Reply-To: gbuchanan@sympatico.ca
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Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:33233

In article <59nb1p$e6f@viewp.demon.co.uk>,
	richard@viewp.demon.co.uk (Richard Chapman) writes:
>woodward@cs.niu.edu wrote:
>: Sean B Purdy (sean@neptune.fast.net.uk) wrote:
>
>: : I'm trying to get FreeBSD to use a serial console when booting.  This 
>
>Here is the relavant section of my kernel config file;
>
># syscons is the default console driver, resembling an SCO console
> device		sc0	at isa? port "IO_KBD" tty irq 1 vector scintr

># Remove this line for VGA Console
>options 	COMCONSOLE
>

My experience was that the sc0 driver had to be removed if there is
no actual video hardware present.  Otherwise the gettys started from
/etc/ttys on /dev/ttyvX will cause the thing to panic.

Of course, you will fix the /etc/ttys to not start them, but the idea
of a perfectly ordinary /dev entry which will panic your system
hopelessly if you ever touch it gave be the willies.  I wonder
if the sc0 probe code should write and read back the MDA video
memory as well as, or even instead of that broken keyboard probe?

I never hacked on my boot blocks, but they seem to get along without
video hardware alright.

============================================
Gardner Buchanan    <gbuchanan@sympatico.ca>
Ottawa, ON