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headless G4 Cube with serial console



I've set up a G4 Cube as a headless server with a serial console.
In case it's useful to others, here's what I did.

I got a CubePort from Griffin Technology (http://www.griffintechnology.com).
This replaces the internal modem with a standard Mac serial connector
on the panel, connected to the internal UART.  After recompiling the
kernel with Mac serial support, I now have a working /dev/ttyS0.
I added
	append="console=ttyS0,57600"
to yaboot.conf to get a serial console.
Open Firmware will use the serial port rather than the
console and keyboard with these settings:
	nvsetenv input-device scca
	nvsetenv output-device scca
So Open Firmware now prompts on the serial line (at 57600 baud),
and the kernel boot messages appear there, but the yaboot prompt still
appeared on the monitor.  I fixed this by replacing the ofboot
script with a much simpler one:
	<CHRP-BOOT>
	<COMPATIBLE>
	MacRISC
	</COMPATIBLE>
	<DESCRIPTION>
	PowerPC GNU/Linux First Stage Bootstrap
	</DESCRIPTION>
	<BOOT-SCRIPT>
	load-base release-load-area
	" hd:2,\\yaboot" $boot
	</BOOT-SCRIPT>
	</CHRP-BOOT>
I put this script in /etc/local/simpleboot, and changed yaboot.conf to use
	magicboot=/etc/local/simpleboot
Now I can see the whole boot sequence on a terminal connected to the
serial port.

Finally, I removed the video card and turned off the kernel options
for console video, VTs, and input core support. I still needed ADB
support for access to the RTC and NVRAM devices, and I left in USB
audio so I can use the speakers.

Without the video card, the Cube runs about 5 degrees C cooler,
according to the TAU info in /proc/cpuinfo.

It's a great server -- small, quiet, and very stylish.

-- 
Eric C. Cooper          e c c @ c m u . e d u



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