Consoles

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

I have an alpha station 500.
The console is set into graphics mode.

The machine blocks somewhere in the beginning of the boot before the network is operational.

There is no screen or keyboard connected to it.
It only has console manager to access it.

It is not listening to control-p (and the console manager break control-k). control p is enabled in the variables.

How can I put the console in serial mode without using extra hardware ?

No solutions using a vt or so, no extra hardware may be used.

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

I forgot to mention that auto_action = boot

[Lokesh_2]

Hi Wim,

Are you not getting boot prompt when you shutodown at console manager ? If yes, why ?

Thanks & regars,
Lokesh

[Antoniov.]

Wim,
AFAIK if you set console serial, your terminal work only in text cell mode as an old VT terminal.

Antonio Vigliotti

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

Q> Are you not getting boot prompt when you shutdown at console manager ? If yes, why ?

I don't get the control. Control p is not working. I can not get on the node with network, so I can't do a shutdown.

Is there some secret esc code perhaps ?

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

Antonio,

That is just what I need for console mgr. Just an old vt.

[Lokesh_2]

Which console manager software you are using ? It it is PCM (Polycenter console manager) then try with this,

$ CONS CONN my_node/break=ctrl_a

Then press ctrl_a and the ctrl_p.

Thanks & regards,
Lokesh

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

TNG 2.1

Already tried with ctrl_a. Doesn't work.
control-c neither.

[Lokesh_2]

Hi Wim,

You do net get boot prompt at console manager even after power recycling ??

Best regards,
Lokesh

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

Lokesh,

No prompt at al. Due to the autostart=boot.
Tried control everything several times. No results.

[Duncan Morris]

Wim,

have you tried shifting the console manager to another port? It might be that Transmit is down on the port, but Receive is still ok.
I have had that on old DECserver systems.

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

Duncan,

You mean another decserver port ?

[Duncan Morris]

Yes Wim. Sometimes they fail permanently, and sometimes they seem to get into a hang state. That was my experience of console manager with DS550 servers. They sometimes cleared after a decserver reboot - but that affected 100+ users at a time.

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

Duncan,

NO results. The port settings are
Port 1: (Remote) Server: CTS12D

Character Size: 8 Input Speed: 9600
Flow Control: XON Output Speed: 9600
Parity: None Signal Control: Disabled
Stop Bits: Dynamic Signal Select: CTS-DSR-RTS-DTR

Access: Remote Local Switch: None
Backwards Switch: None Name: ARB1
Break: Remote Session Limit: 1
Forwards Switch: None Type: Ansi
Default Protocol: LAT

Preferred Service: None

Authorized Groups: 0
(Current) Groups: 0

Enabled Characteristics:
Input Flow Control, Loss Notification, Message Codes,
Output Flow Control, Verification

[Galen Tackett]

Perhaps you should disable flow control on the decserver port to which your console port is connected?

That's how I run ours. Long ago, with older versions of Vaxcluster Console System (as it used to be called), I think I had a problem with flow control hanging things up, but my memory could easily be inaccurate.

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

Galen,

NO results. I compared with another alphastation 500 also beeing monitored via console mgr (but one that works). Identical decserver port settings.

Wim

[Keith Parris]

If you have physical access to the machine, it might be easiest to disable the boot disk (either unplug it or just unplug its power source) and then power up the box; the auto-boot should fail and it should then drop back to console mode.

You should be able to get a >>> prompt on at least one of the serial ports on the back of the machine at that point, and when you do, do the command:
>>> SET CONSOLE SERIAL

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

Keith,

Indeed. Just a pitty that nothing is foreseen to still capture the control-p.

Btw : I connected a console and set console to serial. But I now noticed that it didn't boot in graphical mode (no log files) until I connected the screen. Strange.

Wim

[Lokesh_2]

Hi Wim,

When you connected to system using console manager, what you get when you type SHO TERMINAL ( OPA0: or TTA0: ...) . It should be OPA0:

Thanks & regards,
Lokesh

[Antoniov.]

Wim,
are you sure of using CTS/RTS signal? For theese signal you need a full cable and they aren't right managed by OpenVms; I guess is bettere disable CTS/RTS and holding DTR/DSR.

Antonio Vigliotti

[Wim Van den Wyngaert]

The cable and settings were OK because it is now working. The problem is that it doesn't work when console is in mode graphical and you have to block the hardware to solve it.
Or connect a graphical console ...

Wim