> On Monday 14 May 2007 22:29, Rolf Brudeseth wrote:
> > - Step 1:
> > $ cat /proc/device-tree/options/output-device
> > /vdevice/vty@30000000
> > ==> hvsi0 or hvc0
> >
> > $ cat /proc/device-tree/options/output-device
> > /vdevice/vty@30000001
> > ==> hvsi1
> Do these pseudo files always exist, or just if a serial console is used?
These three device files should always be present in /dev. It is just a matter of specifying the correct one in /etc/inittab, regardless of how the console is accessed.
> If they do always exist, what is their value if "the other device" is
> used, or if a regular console is used?
I am not sure I understand the question so let me try to explain it as follows. IBM System p5 servers can be configured in two mutually exclusive ways as far as consoles are concerned.
If the system is set up where all the hardware resources are associated with a single OS partition and an HMC is not used, then the console is available either through serial port 1 or 2. A physical serial cable can be attached to a traditional terminal, a laptop running minicom, etc. The system senses which serial port is in use and the appropriate value will be set in Open Firmware.
On the other hand, if the system is split up into multiple OS partitions, then a Hardware Management Console (HMC) is required and the serial ports can not be used for console access. The HMC is essentially another PC type computer, running IBM software, which is used to manage the hardware resources made available to the various OS partitions on the server. The HCM will offer as many consoles as there are partitions on the system.
It is possible to have an HMC managed system with all the hardware resources associated with a single OS partition. However, the serial ports still can not be used for console access.
It is also possible to add extra hardware (PCI adapters, Serial over LAN, etc) that will allow for ttySx type hardware serial ports to be used. These are not present with the default configuration and will not allow the user to interact with the ASM and SMS menues that I have described in an earlier entry in this bug. Thus, they will behave like a traditional terminal configuration, where the first thing a user will see is the login prompt. They can not be used for power-up, install, etc.
>
> All in all, this looks easy enough to implement. I'll give it a shot over
> the next few days and send you something to test.
Just let me know when it is ready.
> Thanks again.
> Cheers,
> FJP
Happy to help.
Rolf