I've set up a G4 Cube as a headless server with a serial console. In case it's useful to others, here's what I did.
I got a CubePort from Griffin Technology (http://www.griffintechnology.com). This replaces the internal modem with a standard Mac serial connector on the panel, connected to the internal UART. After recompiling the kernel with Mac serial support, I now have a working /dev/ttyS0. I added append="console=ttyS0,57600" to yaboot.conf to get a serial console. Open Firmware will use the serial port rather than the console and keyboard with these settings: nvsetenv input-device scca nvsetenv output-device scca So Open Firmware now prompts on the serial line (at 57600 baud), and the kernel boot messages appear there, but the yaboot prompt still appeared on the monitor. I fixed this by replacing the ofboot script with a much simpler one: <CHRP-BOOT> <COMPATIBLE> MacRISC </COMPATIBLE> <DESCRIPTION> PowerPC GNU/Linux First Stage Bootstrap </DESCRIPTION> <BOOT-SCRIPT> load-base release-load-area " hd:2,\\yaboot" $boot </BOOT-SCRIPT> </CHRP-BOOT> I put this script in /etc/local/simpleboot, and changed yaboot.conf to use magicboot=/etc/local/simpleboot Now I can see the whole boot sequence on a terminal connected to the serial port. Finally, I removed the video card and turned off the kernel options for console video, VTs, and input core support. I still needed ADB support for access to the RTC and NVRAM devices, and I left in USB audio so I can use the speakers. Without the video card, the Cube runs about 5 degrees C cooler, according to the TAU info in /proc/cpuinfo. It's a great server -- small, quiet, and very stylish. -- Eric C. Cooper e c c @ c m u . e d u
