I want to access MP mode.

[LRTK]

I clicked the MP reset button due to an account issue. Before that, I was able to access it through VGA, but after resetting the MP, nothing is being displayed on the monitor connected to VGA.

So, I attempted to access it by following the method I found on the internet, which was connecting via Serial Port A. I confirmed that my laptop recognized it as COM3 and used Putty to access it via Serial Port.

Unfortunately, while the strings are being output, it is stuck in a continuous loop. How can I access MP mode and use the Shell?

1. My current status.jpeg 
1-1.COM Access Output.jpeg 
1-2. Putty Setting.jpeg 
2-1. HPUX Serial Port A.jpeg 
2-2. My laptop Connect.jpeg 

[feigenL]

Hello there, the console output can be configured to either MP or VGA as primary output.

Do  follow this steps:

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c01479528

That should doit.

Hope this helps.

[Steven Schweda · Accepted solution]

> I clicked the MP reset button [...]

   On _WHAT_?  What is this system?  I might guess that it's an rx2600,
but _you_ might not need to guess.

   It's been many years since I configured a console on my rx2600
systems, so I know nothing.  I'd get the manual for your system
(whatever it is), and start reading.

   But, bearing in mind that I've forgotten whatever I might have known
about such systems, ...

   I don't remember ever using either of those 9-pin serial ports for a
console terminal.  If I wanted to talk to a serial console port, then
I'd be looking at that 25-pin "CONSOLE/REMOTE/UPS" port(s) connector.
My dim recollection is that a normal 25-pin serial cable will connect to
its "CONSOLE" section.  (Some adapter or other exists to allow
connections to the pins for the "REMOTE" and "UPS" ports.  Web search?)

> [...] Before that, I was able to access it through VGA, [...]

   I never did that.  These systems are too loud for me to stay that
close for very long, so I use something like a serial console with a
long cable.

   My guess is that I started with a serial terminal (or equivalent),
connected to the 25-pin ("CONSOLE") serial port, and used that to
configure the MP/iLO networking.  When _that_ was working, I stopped
using any of the serial ports, and used Telnet to talk to the system
(MP/iLO).  (I also have a zx2000 which does not have an MP/iLO.  On that
system I use an actual 9-pin "SERIAL 1" port for the console.)

   If I were trying to use any kind of serial console, then I wouldn't
also have a USB keyboard connected to the thing.  (But what do I know?)

   I don't like the fact that something seems to be looping, and none of
those messages looks familiar to me, so I don't know what that system is
actually doing.

> 1. Using the boot configuration menu

   That's nice, _if_ you can get to "the boot configuration menu".

[Duncan Edmonstone]

> > [...] Before that, I was able to access it through VGA, [...]

>    I never did that.  These systems are too loud for me to stay that
> close for very long, so I use something like a serial console with a
> long cable.

Possibly he has a zx6000 which was the "Workstation" variant of the rx2600. I think it also had quieter fans (I also have a rx2600 and never turn it on for this exact reason)

> I don't remember ever using either of those 9-pin serial ports for a
> console terminal.  If I wanted to talk to a serial console port, then
> I'd be looking at that 25-pin "CONSOLE/REMOTE/UPS" port(s) connector.

Yes exactly this - if you connect to the 9-pin serial port labelled "Serial Port A (Console)", you will not be connected to the OS or even MP console, but to the BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) - which is pretty much useless for anyone apart from a hardware engineer. For details and confirmation of this, see the manual here - specifically p131 : http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/lpv38451.pdf

Of course to access the serial console port of the OS/MP you will also need to have the dongle that converts the 25-pin serial port into 3 x 9-pin serial ports - this has part number A6144-63001 and is discussed on p115. If this dongle isn't available I don't know what the cabling is to access the MP/OS console via the 25-pin port - I don't know if a straight 25pin-9pin converter would work - possibly not... (note those dongles do appear to be available on eBay FWIW)

I wonder if the MP LAN port is enabled and if the original poster might know the IP address of this? 

[Steven Schweda]

> [...] if you connect to the 9-pin serial port labelled "Serial Port A
> (Console)", you will not be connected to the OS or even MP console, but
> to the BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) [...]

   I wouldn't bet on that, exactly.  My main server here is an rx2600
(in a corner of the basement, where it seldom bothers me), running VMS.
The two 9-pin serial ports appear as TTA0 and TTB0 in that OS.  I don't
know what HP-UX does with them, but I'd guess that they're among the
/dev/tty* devices.

> http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/lpv38451.pdf

   Thanks for the helpful link.  As it says on page 186, the BMC
features include:

      o One serial port, multiplexed with the system console port

To me, "multiplexed" suggests that the BMC does not have _exclusive_
access to that serial port.  (Hence the "Esc (" and "Esc Q" stuff, I
assume.)

   But, as I wrote, if I wanted a console port on a system with an
MP/iLO ("Management Card"), then I'd try the big one on the MP/iLO which
is labeled "CONSOLE/[...]".

> [...] to access the serial console port of the OS/MP you will also
> need to have the dongle that converts the 25-pin serial port into 3 x
> 9-pin serial ports [...]

   I still claim that the console port is the _one_ use of that 25-pin
connector for which you do _not_ need the special adapter.  If you can
find a connection list/diagram for the adapter, I predict that you'll
find the CONSOLE 9-pin connector using the normal serial I/O pins on the
25-pin connector.  (And the REMOTE and UPS 9-pin connectors using
various other, seldom-used pins.)  Of course, I now use only network
access, so I can't easily prove this.

> I wonder if the MP LAN port is enabled and if the original poster
> might know the IP address of this?

   If "the MP reset button" did its job, then I might hope that that
MP/iLO would default to using DHCP, in which case, asking the local DHCP
server might be useful.  Presumably, no one knows the MAC address, so
watching for activity might be required.

[Steven Schweda]

> [...] If you can find a connection list/diagram for the adapter, [...]

   A quick search through my old-document collection found the
following.  I don't know where I got the information originally (2015?).
I might have traced it out myself on real hardware, but I don't remember
ever owning an official HP A6144-63001, so I might have found the info
on this new Inter-Web thing.  Use at your own risk, of course.

            HP Console "M" Cable, A6144-63001 Rev. A   T/D 0423

        Computer     Console     UPS      Remote
         M (DCE)     M (DTE)   M (DTE)    M (DTE)

   (PGND) 01 (NC)
    C-TXD 02          03 TXD
    C-RXD 03          02 RXD
    C-RTS 04          07 RTS
    C-CTS 05          08 CTS
    U-DSR 06                    06 DSR
   C-SGND 07          05 GND
     U-CD 08                    01 CD
    R-TXD 09                               03 TXD
    R-RTS 10                               07 RTS
    R-DTR 11                               04 DTR
    R-RXD 12                               02 RXD
    R-CTS 13                               08 CTS
    U-TXD 14                    03 TXD
    U-RTS 15                    07 RTS
   U-SGND 16                    05 GND
    U-RXD 17                    02 RXD
    U-CTS 18                    08 CTS
          19 (NC)
    U-DTR 20                    04 DTR
   R-SGND 21                               05 GND
     U-RI 22                    09 RI
     R-CD 23                               01 CD
    R-DSR 24                               06 DSR
     R-RI 25                               09 RI

        Computer     Console     UPS      Remote

[Steven Schweda]

    For the record, I managed to scrape together enough serial-cable
hardware to get from a (DECserver 90TL) terminal server port (formerly
connected to a 56kb/s modem with a 25-pin connector) to the 25-pin
MP/iLO "CONSOLE/REMOTE/UPS" connector on an rx2600.  I needed to add a
null-modem adapter, but did not employ an A6144-63001 (which I don't
believe that I have).  It worked as expected:

ITS $ set host /lat modem  ! Think of it as PuTTY.
%LAT-S-CONNECTED, session to MODEM on node AN1 established
%LAT-I-TODISCON, type ^\ to disconnect the session
[Return]

MP login: Admin
MP password: *****


       Hewlett-Packard Integrated Lights-Out HP Integrity and HP 9000

    (c) Copyright Hewlett-Packard Company 1999-2007.  All Rights Reserved.

                           MP Host Name: rex-m

                              Revision E.03.32
[...]

[rex-m] MP> 
[...]

    So, I remain confident that an A6144-63001 is not needed for a
console-only serial connection on one of these systems.

[LRTK]

Thank you to everyone who provided an answer, but I am especially grateful to you. The problem was that after resetting the MP, I shut down the server and then booted it up again, but the VGA screen did not appear.

At the time, I thought that the VGA display had been reset and could only be checked through the serial port, but after seeing other people's answers, I realized that the initial state should have been VGA.

So, I attempted a cold boot of the server and was able to resolve the issue.

I want to express my gratitude to those who provided answers.

[Sunitha_Mod]

Hello @LRTK, 

Perfect! 

We are glad to know the problem has been resolved.