"Mike M" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > I want to save money as I expand my collection of Debian servers by > running without a video card. On the rare occasion that I need > console access to a machine I would pull it off the shelf and insert > an AGP video card. > > I just tried it on one of my servers and the only thing I observed > was a beep during the boot-up sequence. > > Several questions come to mind: > > Is this an acceptable mode of operation? Are others running in this > mode? > > Should most motherboards being recently produced be expected to run > without a video card? (Maybe it's a BIOS thing?)
The BIOS on a lot of machines, particularly older ones, won't allow you to boot without a video card. In some cases you can tweak a BIOS setting to tell it to ignore the lack of a video card and boot anyway, *but*, you have to install a video card in order to set that in the BIOS, usually. Is it a valid approach? Yeah, I suppose there's nothing wrong with the approach, if your machines BIOS supports booting without a video card, but it's a MIGHTY pain to have to add a video card when something goes wrong. For most cases like this I generally just get a computer with built-in video, set it up while connected to a monitor and then disconnect the monitor and throw it in the closet. Either that or I shell out $30 for a cheapo VGA card. If I tried setting up a server without a video card I know I'd be cursing myself every time something went wrong and I had to open up the case and install a video card just to diagnose the problem. Gary -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
