Tony Baechler <blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >I could be totally wrong here, but doesn't the kernel have an option to use >a serial console? I vaguely remember a parameter to send messages out a >serial port, but I could be imagining things. I know for a fact that >FreeBSD supports this as I've seen it in the install docs. Server >motherboards also support this or something similar. > Grub 2 supports it, as documented in the manual. >I think you're overlooking a few things. First, many machines don't have >serial ports, so a serial console wouldn't do any good. Second, if you do >have a serial port, it's just that, a single serial port. Therefore, it >would be impossible to plug in a speech snythesizer, Braille display and >serial console on one machine. Finally, USB wouldn't be supported that >early in the boot process, so output wouldn't go to a USB Braille display. Interestingly, however, UEFI is said to support console redirection. http://embedded.communities.intel.com/community/en/embassadors/blog/2011/01/18/ask-a-bios-guy-uefi-gui If this can be done over the network, or if there are UEFI drivers for USB to serial converters, the need for a traditional serial port goes away. Apparently, UEFI offers a much more sophisticated environment, including drivers, than BIOS did. I agree that the user will need another machine which can run a terminal emulator in order to gain access. If wireless drivers were written, this other host might even be mobile. We're still living in a situation in which people tend to have multiple systems, e.g., a desktop machine and a mobile phone or tablet. We haven't reached the point at which the mobile devices take over, and it will be fascinating to see whether this ultimately happens. _______________________________________________ Blinux-list mailing list Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list