Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S265229AbTIDRGo (ORCPT ); Thu, 4 Sep 2003 13:06:44 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S265258AbTIDRGn (ORCPT ); Thu, 4 Sep 2003 13:06:43 -0400 Received: from chaos.analogic.com ([204.178.40.224]:4481 "EHLO chaos.analogic.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S265229AbTIDRGk (ORCPT ); Thu, 4 Sep 2003 13:06:40 -0400 Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 13:09:00 -0400 (EDT) From: "Richard B. Johnson" X-X-Sender: root@chaos Reply-To: root@chaos.analogic.com To: David Lang cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: serial console on x86 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1752 Lines: 42 On Thu, 4 Sep 2003, David Lang wrote: > I am attempting to install linux (debian 3 based) on some dual athlon > boxes with no video card. The BIOS does include serial console > capabilities > > once the system is installed I have no problem booting from the hard > drive, but when I attempt to boot from a CD to install (ISOLINUX custom > boot disk) I see the lilo prompt, the loading kernel message, the loading > initrd.gz message and then it prints 'Ready.' and reboots the same > bootdisk will work just fine if I install a video card in the machine (and > the same kernel with lilo boots just fine without a video card after it > gets installed) > > any ideas why the kernel may crash before printing any messages in this > situation? I've tried this with 2.4.17 and 2.4.22 with the exact same > results. > > David Lang append="console=ttyS0,9600" ... in the lilo configuration works fine in the exact same kernels you cite. However, the CD install does not have the console changed so it will probably not work. The BIOS is never used past the point where the OS is physically loaded so it makes no difference if you have "serial console capabilities" in the BIOS. You can readily make an 'init' that opens a serial port if the console failed to open. That's done all the while in embedded systems. You just can't get that off a "distribution disk". Cheers, Dick Johnson Penguin : Linux version 2.4.22 on an i686 machine (794.73 BogoMips). Note 96.31% of all statistics are fiction. - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/