Re: svn - cannot allocate mem

[Mouse <mouse%Rodents-Montreal.ORG@localhost>]

>> On SS4/SS10/SS20 if I do plug out I usually hang the machine due
>> debugger, I think it interprets a break or such.

Usually a framing error, often not a real break (a break is the line in
a spacing state for at least one full character time, ten bit times for
most serial port use these days; a framing error is any sequence where
the stop bit is not correct, which includes breaks but also includes
other things - at least for RS232; this may be different for other
serial comms).

But...

> Unplugging the serial cable tends to be interpreted as IIRC "break"
> (same as Stop-A on the keyboard) and hands execution off to the
> firmware console, [...]

This depends on the OS.  Reaction to serial line conditions, including
breaks and other framing errors, is up to the OS.  Some just hand
control to the firmware, some do something in-kernel, some ignore it,
some have a knob to control what they do.

> IIRC there is a way to suppress this behaviour, [...]

Depends on the OS.  I don't recall what SunOS or Solaris did; it's been
too long.  NetBSD (what I run on all my SPARCs these days) varies what
it does depending on kernel build options and, for some option
settings, sysctl settings.

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