On Fri, Oct 12, 2001 at 02:07:01PM +1000, matthew green wrote:
>    
>    I am having a heck of a time getting serial console to work on my PC164.  I
>    have an AlphaStation 200 which I've had no trouble with, so I'm confused
>    why I'm having so much trouble with the PC164.  I have a serial cable
>    connected between my laptop and the port labeled "COM1" on my PC164 board
>    (I have also tried "COM2").  I have executed ">> set console serial" at the
>    SRM prompt, and now output only displays on the video if I type something
>    on the keyboard.  So far so good.  I have configured my terminal
>    application on my Laptop (Linux box) to 9600,8,n,1.  Nothing ever appears
>    on the terminal.  I have tried hardware and software flow control.  Are
>    there any special settings I need for the PC164 to do serial console?  I'm
>    not even into the NetBSD kernel yet, I'm just trying to get the SRM prompt
>    through the serial port.  I've tried two different cables and two different
>    laptops.  My only logical conclusion would be that: I have a bad serial
>    port on the PC164; I am using the wrong settings for the serial port on the
>    client side; I have misconfigured serial console in SRM.
> 
> 
> the PC164 should give you a working SRM console on either port, given
> the right conditions.  do you have a keyboard plugged in?  try taking
> it out...  i personally have used a PC164 with serial console for the
> better part of 3 years now.

Actually, try pulling the VGA card, even just temporarily.  That's more 
likely to do what you want on an Alpha (pulling the keyboard would be the
right thing to do on a SPARC).

Thor