From owner-freebsd-stable Sun Dec 16 6:12:41 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mail.gmx.net (mail.gmx.net [213.165.64.20]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 67DD237B41B for ; Sun, 16 Dec 2001 06:12:37 -0800 (PST) Received: (qmail 5303 invoked by uid 0); 16 Dec 2001 14:12:35 -0000 Received: from pd950882e.dip.t-dialin.net (HELO mail.gsinet.sittig.org) (217.80.136.46) by mail.gmx.net (mp007-rz3) with SMTP; 16 Dec 2001 14:12:35 -0000 Received: (qmail 47857 invoked from network); 16 Dec 2001 14:08:00 -0000 Received: from shell.gsinet.sittig.org (192.168.11.153) by mail.gsinet.sittig.org with SMTP; 16 Dec 2001 14:08:00 -0000 Received: (from sittig@localhost) by shell.gsinet.sittig.org (8.11.3/8.11.3) id fBGE7rO47844 for freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG; Sun, 16 Dec 2001 15:07:53 +0100 (CET) (envelope-from sittig) Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 15:07:53 +0100 From: Gerhard Sittig To: freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: serial console (was: Determining Crash cause?) Message-ID: <20011216150752.A1494@shell.gsinet.sittig.org> Mail-Followup-To: freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG References: <3C1B2681.2E507732@vortex.wa4phy.net> <20011215204911.E22667@freeway.dcfinc.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.5i In-Reply-To: <20011215204911.E22667@freeway.dcfinc.com>; from chad@DCFinc.com on Sat, Dec 15, 2001 at 08:49:11PM -0700 Organization: System Defenestrators Inc. Sender: owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Sat, Dec 15, 2001 at 20:49 -0700, Chad R. Larson wrote: > > On Sat, Dec 15, 2001 at 05:31:29AM -0500, Sam Drinkard wrote: > > Is there any known method to determine the cause of a crash > > when there is no panic, no log entries, or other evidence? > > [ ... ] > > Build a kernel with debugging, connect a terminal (or pc running > Hyperterm or some other equivelant) to a serial port on the FreeBSD > box, configure for console port, set the Hyperterm to log and then > wait for the next crash. See if anything useful is captured in the > log. I have a maybe dumb question: Whenever I (sparadically) checked the Handbook since I'm in this situation to keep boot logs of systems without installing a system I only see explanations of what to do to the "controlled" system. Shouldn't there be at least one mention of the "counterpart" in terms of which base system program or port could be "the terminal"? Doing a quick "man -k serial", "man -k console", and "man -k terminal" doesn't reveal anything appropriate, while the "SEE ALSO" section in getty(8) -- which looks like the most promising place to look at -- doesn't have a reference to the "other side" either. Since I don't have any windows machine around Hyperterm is not an option. Others might have a similar problem. :) And I'm not sure if minicom is a good choice, I'm not very comfortable with it (for this purpose of being a serial terminal). So I consider my previous actions to be a quick hack and take it that they could be much improved. What are the alternatives? What are people using for "terminal servers" or "port concentrators"? And can a short list of possible alternatives be included in the Handbook to not have this question asked again too often? (I volunteer to feedback a summary to -doc from the responses I get here. Feel free to write PMs if you think it's OT for -stable.) virtually yours 82D1 9B9C 01DC 4FB4 D7B4 61BE 3F49 4F77 72DE DA76 Gerhard Sittig true | mail -s "get gpg key" Gerhard.Sittig@gmx.net -- If you don't understand or are scared by any of the above ask your parents or an adult to help you. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message