On Tue, Feb 11, 2003 at 01:35:50AM -0500, Bryan Kattwinkel wrote: > I've successfully installed Woody on a Mac Quadra 700, and now want to > run the thing as a pure server with no monitor or keyboard. The Mac OS > and Penguin programs seem to boot up reliably, but I've had various > failures during Linux boot which result in no ability to contact the > machine by telnet or other means. I really don't have room to keep a > monitor and keyboard with the machine and don't have any KVM switch. > > So I am thinking of trying to configure linux to use a serial port as the > console, and then each time I boot it, run ZTerm or something similar on > my desktop PowerMac to monitor the boot process and deal with any > problems. Do any of you use Macs this way and do you have any advice or > tips on making it work?
When using scren sharing programs in MacOS, with machines that might boot without a screen attached, we had to use a video plug to make it think there was a monitor there. Otherwise it would turn the video card off, and it could not be activated until the next boot. Maybe Linux is gettng pissed about that. I think the serial console idea would work fine, but have no experience to share. I've succeeded with serial console on a powerpc, though; I used a 38400 baud rate - it didn't like 9600. Maybe you could use 115200. You have to boot with the correct arguments, and modify the init.d, IIRC. -- "The way the Romans made sure their bridges worked is what we should do with software engineers. They put the designer under the bridge, and then they marched over it." -- Lawrence Bernstein, Discover, Feb 2003
