Mailing List Archive

On Fri, Dec 05, 2003 at 11:48:34AM -0500, Michael Galloway wrote:
> ok, i'm working thru debugging some hardware problems on some of my
> servers and i'm trying to get bios and memtest output from some
> linux servers into the logfiles or to the console screen via
> conserver. i run serial ports to a cyclades terminal server, they to
> a linux box running conserver v8.0.6. i seem to have a termtype
> issuse that i cannot get resolved. anyone solved this problem
> already?

The normal problem I have with Linux terminal type is the xterm
terminal tends not to unbold or un-underline correctly. Setting the
terminal type to vt100 solves this problem.

Our Dell boxes' BIOS don't have perfect vt100 emulation - no terminal
has ever worked perfectly with them. We just live with it - we know
the boot sequence and any real problem can be solved with a monitor
and a keyboard. The BIOS also has two settings, vt100 and ANSI. You
want vt100.

If I didn't guess correctly, could you describe the problem you are
having.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
__o Bradley Arlt Security Team Lead
_ \<_ arlt@cpsc.ucalgary.ca University Of Calgary
(_)/(_) Joyously Canadian Computer Science

[. On Friday, December 5, 2003 at 11:48:34 (-0500), Michael Galloway wrote: ]
> Subject: terminal types
>
> ok, i'm working thru debugging some hardware problems on some of my servers
> and i'm trying to get bios and memtest output from some linux servers into the
> logfiles or to the console screen via conserver. i run serial ports to a
> cyclades terminal server, they to a linux box running conserver v8.0.6. i seem
> to have a termtype issuse that i cannot get resolved. anyone solved this
> problem already?

I'm assuming your BIOS supports use of a serial console?

What kind of BIOS is it, exactly?

I've had very little luck with Intel Phoenix ServerBIOS. It's just
_WAY_ too stupid to use successfully with any real serial console. It
basically continuously re-paints the whole screen continuously using
ANSI escape sequences to move the cursor. The console log is
effectively unreadable even with heavy post-processing to try and clean
out the escape sequences. As for driving it from the terminal keyboard,
i.e. in order to actually change any BIOS settings from the serial
console, well that almost works, some of the time, but knowing which
function keys are which is mostly guess-work and luck. Also at anything
less than 56kbps the lag is worse than a geosync satellite connection.
The idiot that dreampt that implementation up should be put out of our
misery.

I've had some better luck with some of the newer Asus servers, though
the setup screens suffer much the same problem with key sequences, even
if you know exactly how to get xterm to send what you think it should
send.

I suspect the HP servers are closer to having a real serial console
these days, but I've not had the chance to play with one extensively
yet.


> PS: happy holidays to all :-)

Bah, HUMBUG! Not so soon!!!! :-)

--
Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098 VE3TCP RoboHack <woods@robohack.ca>
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