From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Jul 13 19:59:33 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6D74916A4CE; Tue, 13 Jul 2004 19:59:33 +0000 (GMT) Received: from rwcrmhc11.comcast.net (rwcrmhc11.comcast.net [204.127.198.35]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2B2C643D46; Tue, 13 Jul 2004 19:59:33 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from jshamlet@comcast.net) Received: from localhost.invalid (pcp04630981pcs.gambrl01.md.comcast.net[68.49.59.181]) by comcast.net (rwcrmhc11) with ESMTP id <2004071319593201300j1thue>; Tue, 13 Jul 2004 19:59:32 +0000 From: "J. Seth Henry" To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, Robert Watson Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 15:59:23 -0400 User-Agent: KMail/1.6 References: <20040713163504.DB72116A4CE@hub.freebsd.org> In-Reply-To: <20040713163504.DB72116A4CE@hub.freebsd.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-Id: <200407131559.23848.jshamlet@comcast.net> Subject: Re: freebsd-questions Digest, Vol 68, Issue 29 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 19:59:33 -0000 Robert, I have a FreeBSD based router running on an Intel PIII board (D815EFV) that= =20 uses a serial console. I redirect to com1/cuaa0 at 115 kbps. I also=20 configured FreeBSD to use a serial console as the primary console, and I=20 haven't had any problems with the router failing to boot, either with or=20 without a terminal attached. Finally, I set up a getty session, so I can=20 login via cuaa0. The only messages I miss are the fdisk/startup messages. Sorry I can't help, but I would suspect a configuration issue. =2DSeth Henry On Tuesday, July 13, 2004 12:35, freebsd-questions-request@freebsd.org wrot= e: > Message: 30 > Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 12:05:14 -0400 (EDT) > From: Robert Watson > Subject: BIOS console redirection *and* serial console with FreeBSD > To: questions@FreeBSD.org > Message-ID: > =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 > Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=3DUS-ASCII > > > I have access to several boxes that support "BIOS console redirection", in > which access to the BIOS and BIOS-based console I/O is redirected to a > serial port. =A0This is pretty neat functionality, as it allows me to > reconfigure RAID arrays, change a variety of system settings, boot > preferences, etc, via the serial console. > > However, I run into a problem when I attempt to use BIOS redirection with > FreeBSD's native serial console support. =A0If I just configure a login > session on ttyd0, it pops up once the boot completes and appears perfectly > workable. =A0However, if I turn on 'console=3D"comconsole"' in loader.con= f, > the system will appear to hang or otherwise wedge rather than boot. > Currently, the boxes where I've experienced this are all remote, so I > can't report on what actually appears on the console -- however, the > systems appear to never boot. > > My ideal world order would have a natural transition from BIOS console > redirection to FreeBSD's serial console, letting me configure BIOS/RAID > settings, configure loader pieces (swap kernels, set tunables, etc), then > onto the kernel serial console pieces, and finally launching a login > session on ttyd0. > > Does anyone have experience with making this actually happen, or similar > experience with it not working? =A0I'm seeing it right now on a recent Xe= on > Intel-based motherboard ("Westville"), but also on an older Intel > ServerWorkers PIII motherboard. =A0Is the FreeBSD loader serial code doing > something un-kosher that the BIOS redirection implementation doesn't like? > Can we make it behave better? =A0Or is the BIOS redirection implementation > just broken when it comes to dealing with use of the serial port by the > OS? > > Thanks, > > Robert N M Watson =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 FreeBSD Core Team, TrustedBSD P= rojects > robert@fledge.watson.org =A0 =A0 =A0Principal Research Scientist, McAfee = Research