Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 09:27:25 -0800 From: Mike Smith <mike@smith.net.au> To: ekagan@usa.net Cc: freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Alternative BIOS Message-ID: <199901241727.JAA03993@dingo.cdrom.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 24 Jan 1999 18:03:53 %2B0200." <36AB4469.AA152F60@xpert.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> Hello all, > > I was wondering whether anyone has ever seen an alternative BIOS for > Intel based servers that allows using serial port as a console, and not > VGA. Unfortunately, the nature of PC hardware means that the BIOS is tied very closely to the hardware itself. Thus, what you're looking for is actually a board and BIOS combination. > Something like Sun's eprom that can detect an absence of console and > redirect all input/output to a terminal. > And if so, does it work with Linux and/or FreeBSD. I've used a very nice serial console facility on the Intel AD450NX server platform; I expect that it's also available on its smaller sibling the SC450NX. These systems work just fine with FreeBSD, although you will want to be installing 3.1 to take full advantage of them. At the opposite end of the scale, Mesa Electronics have a 386sx-based board that also has a working serial console. You may find a few other vendors of embedded server products with serial BIOS support; they're going to tend to be quite a lot more expensive than a "normal" server. -- \\ Sometimes you're ahead, \\ Mike Smith \\ sometimes you're behind. \\ mike@smith.net.au \\ The race is long, and in the \\ msmith@freebsd.org \\ end it's only with yourself. \\ msmith@cdrom.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199901241727.JAA03993>