hpasm configuration files

[frederick hannah]

Using hpasm, I disabled a serial port on a proliant server with a RedHat operating system.
Which file on the server can I view that contains the status of the disabled port? HPASM tells me which port is disabled, but I am looking the file that reflects the same info.

[Matti_Kurkela]

HPASM can directly view & modify the system's BIOS settings, so I don't think there is any file containing that information at all.

To verify the list of standard PC serial ports recognized by the Linux kernel, run this command:

setserial -g /dev/ttyS?

Serial port detection is pretty tricky in PC hardware architecture, because traditionally the serial ports just were supposed to be used by knowing the correct I/O addresses to manipulate - there was no standard way to query the BIOS for their presence. The ACPI standard includes some provisions for reporting the existence of serial ports, but if you plug an old-style add-on serial port card to the system, the ACPI subsystem won't know about the add-on ports.

The "setserial -g" command will usually list at least the four traditional PC serial ports with their de-facto standard I/O addresses and IRQ assignments - but if the port line says "UART: unknown", it means that the port either does not exist or is disabled at the BIOS level.

MK

[frederick hannah]

Thanks for the response.Last question: I disabled a port using hpasm, but will the port reset back to its default state after a reboot of the server?

[Matti_Kurkela · Accepted solution]

Using HPASM to disable serial ports should be just as permanent as pressing F9 at boot time to access the BIOS configuration menus and disabling the port from there.

In other words, the port will stay disabled until you explicitly re-enable it (using either HPASM or the BIOS menus).

Note: whenever you use HPASM to change the serial port settings, a reboot may be necessary to make the new settings take full effect. (Whether you need to reboot or not may depend on the server model and/or the OS version.)

MK

[frederick hannah]

Thanks for your time.