From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Apr 26 15:14:32 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D215C16A404 for ; Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:14:32 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions-local@be-well.ilk.org) Received: from mail2.sea5.speakeasy.net (mail2.sea5.speakeasy.net [69.17.117.4]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AB3E613C44C for ; Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:14:32 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions-local@be-well.ilk.org) Received: (qmail 19417 invoked from network); 26 Apr 2007 15:14:32 -0000 Received: from dsl092-078-145.bos1.dsl.speakeasy.net (HELO be-well.ilk.org) ([66.92.78.145]) (envelope-sender ) by mail2.sea5.speakeasy.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP for ; 26 Apr 2007 15:14:31 -0000 Received: from Lowell-Desk.localdomain (Lowell-Desk.lan [172.30.250.6]) by be-well.ilk.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4EE8E28426; Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:14:27 -0400 (EDT) Received: by Lowell-Desk.localdomain (Postfix, from userid 1147) id 453B71CCC9; Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:14:26 -0400 (EDT) To: Doug Lee References: <20070425141804.GC911@kirk.dlee.org> From: Lowell Gilbert Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:14:26 -0400 In-Reply-To: <20070425141804.GC911@kirk.dlee.org> (Doug Lee's message of "Wed\, 25 Apr 2007 10\:18\:05 -0400") Message-ID: <44ps5rmalp.fsf@Lowell-Desk.lan> User-Agent: Gnus/5.11 (Gnus v5.11) Emacs/22.0.98 (berkeley-unix) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: USB console or other alternatives X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:14:32 -0000 Doug Lee 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.