Hello, I have a bunch of Debian Wheezy servers set up with the console available via the serial port. Generally, I just add this line to /etc/inittab:
co:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt102 And then run "kill -HUP 1" and the serial console works (I could also use "telinit q" or "init q" instead of kill -HUP"). I just did this on a Wheezy server to make sure, and checked the getty processes prior to making the change: # ps -ef | grep getty root 2660 1 0 Jul24 tty1 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty1 root 2661 1 0 Jul24 tty2 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty2 root 2662 1 0 Jul24 tty3 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty3 root 2663 1 0 Jul24 tty4 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty4 root 2664 1 0 Jul24 tty5 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty5 root 2665 1 0 Jul24 tty6 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty6 And then after: # ps -ef | grep getty root 2660 1 0 Jul24 tty1 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty1 root 2661 1 0 Jul24 tty2 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty2 root 2662 1 0 Jul24 tty3 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty3 root 2663 1 0 Jul24 tty4 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty4 root 2664 1 0 Jul24 tty5 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty5 root 2665 1 0 Jul24 tty6 00:00:00 /sbin/getty 38400 tty6 root 31705 1 0 11:33 ttyS0 00:00:00 /sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt102 And there's the getty on ttyS0 as expected. That's all fine and good, but when I try to do this on my desktop PC running Jessie, it doesn't work. My PC is running an X server, Gnome, etc., whereas the servers are not. Also, on Wheezy, /sbin/getty and /sbin/agetty seem to be two copies of the same file, wheras on Jessie, /sbin/getty is a symlink to /sbin/agetty. The PC is using the default /etc/inittab file. When I check the list of getty processes after a clean reboot, there's only this: # ps -ef | grep getty root 2092 1 0 11:50 tty1 00:00:00 /sbin/agetty --noclear tty1 linux If I access the virtual consoles via CTRL-ALT-F1, etc., they show up in the process list only after they have been accessed: # ps -ef | grep getty root 2092 1 0 11:50 tty1 00:00:00 /sbin/agetty --noclear tty1 linux root 2998 1 0 11:56 tty2 00:00:00 /sbin/agetty --noclear tty2 linux root 3001 1 0 11:56 tty3 00:00:00 /sbin/agetty --noclear tty3 linux And still not in the same way that they appear on Wheezy ("/sbin/getty 38400 tty1", etc.). If I add the line for the serial console to /etc/inittab and reload the init deamon, or even reboot the PC, it simply does nothing. No getty process shows up on ttyS0, and no serial console is available. I know the serial port itself works, because I can connect to it from my laptop, then do "screen /dev/ttyS0 9600" on the PC and see characters in the screen session as I type them on the laptop. So the serial port works, and I/O seems to work, but I can't seem to start a persistent getty process on that port and access the console through it. Any ideas or suggestions are very much appreciated. Thanks! Dave -- Dave Parker Systems Administrator Utica College Integrated Information Technology Services (315) 792-3229 Registered Linux User #408177