Matthew Mondor <[email protected]> wrote: > Sometimes I've been thinking about this as more and more hardware don't > ship with RS232 anymore. Is there a relatively common BIOS interface > which would allow, even if non-efficiently, to use a USB port as a > serial device without too much code?
I doubt it. All uses of serial-via-USB that I've seen have required electronics (often buggy electronics) to do the conversion, and the one or two USB video interfaces I've also seen have also required electronics _and_ custom kernel drivers, and (you guessed it) there were bugs galore there too in the one I tried (hardware, software, or both I don't know). On the "big iron" I used to work with that had consoles with network support, the network connection was a pretty dumb piece of hardware which spoke ssh or telnet on the network side ... and RS-232 on the console side. :-( (OK, it also offered remote access to the reset and power switches, but the console was still -- in the 21st century -- based off RS-232. Maybe that changed in later models, but I wouldn't bet much on the possibility.) A USB console is a nice idea, but the industry doesn't seem to have picked it up(*). Which with all the EFI, IPMI, and other overly complex industry "standards" necessary to build a modern machine plus the prevalence of notebook PCs all with USB ports this is amusing, if you have a warped enough sense of humour ... (*) Or if there _is_ a USB console standard I've missed the memo and would welcome someone setting me straight, please. Regards, Giles
