[rescue] Why .* sucks (was Re: FDDI card)

[George Adkins]

> > A lot of modern boards seem to have serial console redirect options, and
> > some boards I've seen (Netapp in particular) have some form of openboot
>
>   Yes, they've been around for at least eight years.  And they NEVER
> work right.
>

I have to comment on this, having some professional experience on the matter 
(being responsible for troubleshooting / testing / validating / maintaining 
the hardware of some 800 or so machines)

Even on the Intel manufactured, high-end chipset motherboards, this does not 
work.  Sure, it will push the POST display out of the serial port, but that 
is all.

There is no PROM monitor here.  The machine cannot be manipulated effectively 
from this port because it depends on the OS to do the most rudimentary task.  
If that kernel does not load correctly, you cannot do the most rudimentary 
tasks, such as select an alternate kernel to load or change disk boot 
priority, or power-off the machine, or power cycle the machine (CTRL-ALT-DEL 
'soft' reboot is often not enough...).

so, Dave is Absolutely right when he says that they Never work(ed) right.

George