Bug#420820: no console set IBM p5 server

[Frans Pop <elendil@planet.nl>]

On Monday 14 May 2007 23:55, Rolf Brudeseth wrote:
> > 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.

You misunderstand me. I'm not concerned about the device files in /dev, 
but about the files in /proc.

We are going to be using the presence/content of the files
/proc/device-tree/options/output-device/vdevice/vty@30000000,
/proc/device-tree/options/output-device/vdevice/vty@30000001 and 
/proc/device-tree/vdevice/vty@30000000/compatible to determine which type 
of console is being actually used, right?

My question is: if hvsi1 is being used, what is the output of
    cat /proc/device-tree/options/output-device/vdevice/vty@30000000
or does that file just not exist in that case?


My second question was: what is the output for the first two files if the 
console is on a regular keyboard/monitor directly connected to the box?
>From your description it looks like this question is basically just not 
relevant: a P5 server _always_ has a console connected by serial cable.

So basically we should always have a "co:" line in /etc/inittab which 
points to either hvsi0, hvsi1 or hvc0 and this is basically completely 
separate from a "regular" serial console setup using a "T0:" line (which 
is only an _alternative_ to a directly connected keyboard/monitor).

In that case, we don't need to touch the 90console script at all, but 
should rather add an additional script (91mgmt-console maybe) specific to 
PowerPC (and maybe also Sparc?) to set up the co: line.

So, what I'm now beginning to understand is that I should forget about 
the "T0" line (which we currently set in 90console for "regular" serial 
console setups), but have to use a "co:" line as you suggested in your 
initial post.

Sorry if this seems obvious to you, but I'm not familiar with the hardware 
and want to be clear about how this works before implementing anything.