[ubuntu-uk] Small TFT monitors....

[Tony Travis]

Chris Rowson wrote:
>> It's not a problem borrowing kit most of the time, but it would still be
>> convenient to have a nice little portable monitor with me. I take a USB
>> RS232 serial adapter, so I can login on a server's RS232 serial port in
>> an emergency!
> 
> Hey Tony,
> 
> I know it's a bit off-topic, but thought I'd be cheeky and ask anyway!
> 
> When you say that you can log onto a server's serial port, is that
> ability enabled automatically when you install Ubuntu? If I where to
> connect to a server serial port now, could i get a shell through it?

Hello, Chris.

It depends on what your BIOS can do more than anything else. If console 
output can be redirected to the RS32 port in the BIOS it's easy. The 
kernel doesn't know it's talking to the serial port initially. It's just 
doing BIOS calls, with i/o being redirected to the serial port by the 
BIOS itself. However, not all BIOS's support this (I'm using Tyan MB's).

Logins on the serial ports are not enabled by default, but you can just 
uncomment the lines in /etc/inittab to enable them:

> # Example how to put a getty on a serial line (for a terminal)
> #
> #T0:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt100
> #T1:23:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS1 9600 vt100

In the good old days, this was the 'normal' way to login on servers :-)

Best wishes,

	Tony.
-- 
Dr. A.J.Travis,                     |  mailto:ajt at rri.sari.ac.uk
Rowett Research Institute,          |    http://www.rri.sari.ac.uk/~ajt
Greenburn Road, Bucksburn,          |   phone:+44 (0)1224 712751
Aberdeen AB21 9SB, Scotland, UK.    |     fax:+44 (0)1224 716687