Re: Question related to FreeBSD Serial Console...

Scott Long wrote:
> Scott M. Likens wrote:
> > I have a question related to FreeBSD Serial console,
> >
> > I am aware you can use -Dh for both internal and serial, but is it
> > possible to see the 'kernel' "boot" messages sent on both the serial and
> > the console?
> >
> > It was a question that was asked to me by a client, and after
> > researching it more, it seems that it's not possible.
> >
> > Am i wrong?  or did I miss an option that's not documented?

In boot.config, you can add the line "-D".

Unfortunately, this only makes both consoles active during the
boot; when control is given over to the kernel, only a single
console (specified by the state of the -h option, and toggling,
depending on whether you have a keyboard plugged in) makes only
a single console active.  Unfortunately, when the sense of the
-P option was inverted, it kind of broke the expected console
behaviour ("use keyboard if keyboard connected, else use serial").

Unfortunately you can't just "-P -h" as it used to tell you to do
in the handbook, because of the "-P" sense inversion.

Probably someone ought to do the work of making "-D" work internal
to the kernel itself, and ought to reinvert the "-P" so that you
could hook up a keyboard before or after boot, and the keyboard
would "just work", like it did circa FreeBSD 4.2/4.3.  Making the
"-D" work is probably what the person who broke "-P" had in mind,
with breaking "-P" provoking someone to "make -D work right".  Kind
of like starting someone's foot on fire to get extinguishers put in
the apartment complex (or because "it feels so good when the fire
goes out").

-- Terry