Martin: I don't know specifically about the IBM Netfinity, but many, if not most non-Intel computers will automatically use the first serial port for communications if you boot without a monitor connected. I have even used a Braille 'N Speak connected to my DEC Alpha this way. On Sat, 13 Oct 2001, Martin G. McCormick wrote: > I have been behind on reading Email this Summer, but I > just read the discussion concerning FreeBSD. This is a little > off-topic because FreeBSD isn't Linux, but it is open-source, > free, and very robust. This last Summer, I installed FreeBSD-4.3 > on four IBM Netfinity servers. It took me a bit to get the hang > of the process, but it is extremely blind-friendly if your system > has at least one serial port and that port functions as Com1. > > You also need a DOS P.C. with a suitable screen reader > and telecomm package such as Kermit or Procomm and a null-modem > cable. > > What happens is that the FreeBSD installation CDROM has a > routine on it that, in some cases, will start talking through the > serial port if you have it connected and no local keyboard > connected to the FreeBSD system. > > If your system doesn't talk to you on boot-up like mine > didn't, all is still not lost. An alternative method of getting > your serial console to work is to connect a local keyboard to the > stubborn FreeBSD system and boot the CDROM. You will hear two > beeps. At that point, hit any key except Return on the local > keyboard and type > > boot -h > > and voila, the FreeBSD copyright notice starts spewing out the > serial port. > > You certainly need a VT100 emulator to do the > installation and it takes a little getting used to, but it does > work and I could do an OS installation complete with hard drive > formatting in about 25 minutes, once I knew what I was doing. > > When the system comes up fully, your serial port goes > silent unless it is defined as a TTY, so you need to be able to > configure the network port and log in to it over Ethernet after > the initial installation. > > Interestingly enough, the serial port wakes up again each > time you reboot or halt the system. You can boot in to > single-user mode and fix things if you have to. I really like > it, but Linux seems to have better sound card support. > > FreeBSD is just another fine open-source choice we have. > I think it has much better security by default than Linux does, > but Linux can be quite secure if you take the time to make it > that way. > > Anyway, I figured I would share my experiences with the > rest of the list regarding FreeBSD. > > By the way, you can download an entire 650-meg ISO image > of the installation disk and burn your own CDROM if you have a > good network connection or lots of patience. We have a good > network connection at Oklahoma State and one of the mirror sites > for FreeBSD seems to also have a good connection, so it only took > a relatively short time to do the download. The first site we > tried took well over a day, but it really didn't matter as the > download kept getting aborted due to loss of the connection. > > The image did produce a bootable disk and I was able to > use it for the installations. > > I probably should amend what I said at the first. If > you have a Windows P.C. and JAWS or any of the other Windows > screen readers, that will also work fine to communicate with the > FreeBSD system's serial port. Your Windows terminal program > should emulate a VT100 and the Comm port needs to be 9600, N, 8 > and 1 in order to work with the remote console built in to the > FreeBSD installation disk. > > Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK > OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Network Operations Group > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Blinux-list@redhat.com > https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list > -- Janina Sajka, Director Technology Research and Development Governmental Relations Group American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Email: janina@afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175 Chair, Accessibility SIG Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF) http://www.openebook.org Will electronic books surpass print books? Read our white paper, Surpassing Gutenberg, at http://www.afb.org/ebook.asp Download a free sample Digital Talking Book edition of Martin Luther King Jr's inspiring "I Have A Dream" speech at http://www.afb.org/mlkweb.asp Learn how to make accessible software at http://www.afb.org/accessapp.asp