>> >And, if not, could
>> >the loader at least not display a message on the local monitor like
>> >"Switching output to serial console...", or better yet, "Switching output
>> >to serial console in 10 seconds.. press any key to abort"?
>>
>> Which key do you mean? The system has found no keyboard, you know :-)
>>
>> Kazu
>
>Exactly... My suggestion resembles the common BIOS boot message from days
>of old:
>
> Keyboard not found. Press [F1] to continue.
The PC BIOS prints "Press [F1] to continue" for ANY error detected
during POST. I found it damm stupid.
As I wrote in another posting, the keyboard interface on the PC
motherboard is not designed for hot-plugging/unplugging. And I don't
think the BIOS is expecting you to attach the keyboard without turning
off the system in the above situation.
You may say it works. But, I can say, with confidence, it is not
generally the case with the average PC motherboard. I strongly object
to the idea to put some logic or message to actively "encourage" users
to hot-plug the keyboard. That will certainly lead to breakage of
many motherboards.
If the user hot-plug the keyboard, knowing involved risks, that's
his problem; he is expected to know what he is doing and is prepared
to accept the risks.
It's indeed inconvenient that you cannot safely hot-plug the keyboard.
And the world is heading for the USB standard... :-)
Kazu
>The novice reads, laughs out loud, and wonders if the joke is really on
>them. After all, how COULD they press F1 if a keyboard does not exist?
>
>The expert checks his/her keyboard connection, (or plugs a keyboard in)
>and, indeed, hits F1 to continue. BIOS programmers have been doing it
>for about two decades. Why not the FreeBSD boot loader? :-)
>
>My idea is a similar one. Have the boot loader (with a reasonably
>configured timeout--we don't want to wait indefinitely) display a similar
>message (perhaps with copious beeping), giving the busy sysadmin a chance
>to switch keyboards, or at least notice that a keyboard was not detected.
>
>If I install FreeBSD on multiple systems, I might throw boot disks in a
>dozen machines so I don't have to wait for each one. I come around with
>my $370 keyboard later to start the actual installs over NFS. I call it
>'pipelining' :-)
To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message
