Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 06:10:26 -0700 From: Jeremy Chadwick <koitsu@FreeBSD.org> To: Dag-Erling =?iso-8859-1?Q?Sm=F8rgrav?= <des@des.no>, freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Serial console/remote install discussion Message-ID: <20070922131026.GA98872@eos.sc1.parodius.com> In-Reply-To: <20070922121240.GA98175@eos.sc1.parodius.com> References: <20070921161917.GA65081@eos.sc1.parodius.com> <86myvfqb6w.fsf@ds4.des.no> <20070922121240.GA98175@eos.sc1.parodius.com>
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On Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 05:12:40AM -0700, Jeremy Chadwick wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 11:52:23AM +0200, Dag-Erling Smørgrav wrote:
> > Jeremy Chadwick <koitsu@FreeBSD.org> writes:
> > > I'd like to open up a discussion regarding FreeBSD serial console and
> > > the aspect of installation via serial console.
> >
> > how about you go read loader(8) and loader.conf(5) first?
>
> I've read them, thoroughly, and many times over the years. What exactly
> is your point in saying this? Did you read *anything* I wrote? :-)
I'll retract this statement entirely, and apologise profusely.
It seems lots of documentation (both manpages and the Handbook) have
been updated since the last time I sat down and thoroughly read them.
Regarding Item #2 ("FreeBSD serial vs. VGA") in my original mail:
The loader(8) manpage talks about a 'boot_multicons' option, and refers
you to conscontrol(8); I hadn't heard of these until now.
Regarding Item #3 ("Stock serial port speed 9600bps") and Item #4
("serial works great in one stage but not the next") in my original
mail:
The loader.conf(5) manpage says it can inherit the serial port speed
from the previous boot stage (specifically boot2). This means that one
can simply do -S115200 in /boot.config and achieve a higher port speed,
without rebuilding bootblocks and without rebuilding the kernel.
The present version of the Handbook also mentions all of the above:
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/serialconsole-setup.html
Looks like I get to spend the weekend trying out new things. Thank you
for indirectly pointing these out.
Item #1 (requiring one to build their own installation disks) should
still be discussed. I got some private mails over that item, and I need
to read them in full; there's concerns with situations where there's
other stuff attached to a serial port, such as a UPS (something I hadn't
thought of). I'm left thinking it might just be best for an
administrator to snag the FreeBSD ISOs and add a /boot.config there to
address serial console-based installs. I'll have to try that, and
submit some PRs for Handbook updates explaining how to do it...
--
| Jeremy Chadwick jdc at parodius.com |
| Parodius Networking http://www.parodius.com/ |
| UNIX Systems Administrator Mountain View, CA, USA |
| Making life hard for others since 1977. PGP: 4BD6C0CB |
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