Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:14:26 -0400
From:      Lowell Gilbert <freebsd-questions-local@be-well.ilk.org>
To:        Doug Lee <dgl@dlee.org>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: USB console or other alternatives
Message-ID:  <44ps5rmalp.fsf@Lowell-Desk.lan>
In-Reply-To: <20070425141804.GC911@kirk.dlee.org> (Doug Lee's message of "Wed\, 25 Apr 2007 10\:18\:05 -0400")
References:  <20070425141804.GC911@kirk.dlee.org>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Doug Lee <dgl@dlee.org> writes:

> I'm one of these guys running FreeBSD 4.11 on very old hardware (a
> Pentium 166, specifically), and I want to upgrade to FreeBSD 6 or 7
> soon but with new hardware.  Being blind, I need to use something
> other than the video card for a console.  I've been using a serial
> console for a long time, but serial ports are getting scarce.  I need
> the console to become active during the boot sequence in case of
> problems, as it can with a serial console.  As I did with FreeBSD 3
> and 4, I will also want to activate this console during FreeBSD
> installation if possible, so I don't have to have someone else be here
> when I install it.
>
> Can modern hardware and a modern FreeBSD version provide console
> access before the kernel loads via USB or via anything other than an
> actual on-board or PCI serial port?

I am not sure, but I would expect that you would need BIOS support for
something like that.  Personally, I would stick with serial ports as
long as possible, because they are much more simple than any
alternatives.  

What do you hook up to that serial port, anyway?

Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I wanted to make sure you got
*some* help.

Good luck.



Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?44ps5rmalp.fsf>