serial console for dummies?

[Dieter]

> actually instructs you to remove the keyboard.

I think this is for some systems with buggy firmware?

For other systems with different buggy firmware you
should leave the "video" keyboard connected, at least
if you need to get into the firmware's "setup" mode.

> So is there someone who can give me a hand-held walk-through
> of just what I need to do to make this work?

What you need to do will vary with your system and what
capabilities/bugs it has.

For my system,

	firmware:

		advanced cmos setup page:
			turn on serial console
			turn on "keep running after boot" option
			set baud rate

	FreeBSD 6.0:

		rcsdiff -r1.1 /etc/ttys
		===================================================================
		RCS file: /etc/RCS/ttys,v
		retrieving revision 1.1
		diff -r1.1 /etc/ttys
		32a33,34
		> #
		> # console is actually ttyd0 below
		47c49,50
		< ttyd0 "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600"   dialup  off secure
		---
		> # ttyd0 is actually console
		> ttyd0 "/usr/libexec/getty std.19200"  vt100   on secure


		cat /boot/loader.conf
		# -- sysinstall generated deltas -- #
		console="comconsole"
		# 0 = disk write cache off  safe
		# 1 = disk write cache on   fast
		hw.ata.wc=0

Bugs:
	I think some of the bootloader stuff is hard coded to 9600 baud?

	The FreeBSD boot loader has a menu thingy that doesn't listen
	to either keyboard.