Re: serial console device, and installboot vs. /boot.cfg

On Thu, Feb 08, 2024 at 00:40:07 -0800, Steve Rikli wrote:

> 0) is this setup for i386/amd64 serial console documented somewhere?
>    I checked The NetBSD Guide a little, but didn't find much about it.
>    I realize I could have chosen serial during install, but wasn't sure
>    if/when I'd be doing this, so I punted to VGA+keyboard.  Plus I'd
>    simply like to understand how it works and how to configure serial
>    console properly afterwards if desired.

Probably not documented explicitly.  It's a bit hard to fit into the
Guide, b/c the details vary wildly from port to port.  I thought MD
section of the installation instructions has it, but x86 versions
seems to be silent about it.  A sutiable writeup would be welcome :)

I never remember the exact incantation since I don't need this often,
but I do remember to look it up in installboot(8) under '-e'.  I
mostly use it to get serial DDB when I need it on an old Dell laptop
that is so old that it has an onboard serial port and under
VirtualBox.  Then I switch back to the normal console.  Too bad there
was no OpenBoot for x86 :) (well, there was but Sun never released
that x86 Javastation).


-uwe