Sunfire V120 Serial Console
Hi guys,My current set up is I have a Laptop running redhat linux.This acts as an SSH server, and i use it to console into the LOM-A port on my Sunfire V100 using minicom. The idea is that I can remotely access and test things out.This works great, but I've just bought another V100 server and I read somewhere that The Bserial port can be used to communicate to the console of another server. Has anyone else got experience with this and would know how to set it up?I'd like to SSH to my laptop running RedhatMinicom to access console and poweron V1001SSH to V1001Console from V1001 to V1002Poweron V1002SSH directly from Laptop to V1002RH-laptop- LOM-A V1001 Bserial - LOM-A V1002Is it possible?many thanks in anticipation.Stin.
The SunFire V120 has two serial ports on the back. There's an A and B stacked right in the center.You'll be plugging a cable into one of those.
Probably the top one, but some Sun models like the bottom one (I'm not familiar with the V120). This is just an Ethernet cable, but it's being used as a serial cable from this port, so don't plug the other end into an Ethernet port anywhere.At the other end of the cable, you'll need something to get it plugged into a serial port on your PC.
This is where you may have a lot of options. I haven't done it in a while. You're PC or laptop may not have a serial port. You might need to find some kind of USB thing, or dig up an old laptop that has a serial port. Try Googling 'usb serial port'.
You may have to do some experimentation to get this part working.If you can locate an old character terminal (VT100, VT220, VT400, etc), just plug it in and go. These are pretty old school, but I've seen them on eBay for real cheap. The risk is finding one that actually works.If you're going to a PC or laptop, you'll need a terminal program to talk to the serial port.
Putty is perfect for this. It's configurable, it's free, and it works. That's all you need.Once you have it properly connected, you will see some boot messages when you power it up.
At some point after the basic hardware tests, it will (hopefully) stop at an 'ok' prompt. This is the OpenBoot PROM prompt. From here you can try some commands.probe-scsi = Show what SCSI devices it sees.probe-ide = Show what IDE devices it sees.devalias = Show device aliases.printenv = Show environment variable that control how, when, and where it boots.banner = Displays the basic system boot banner information.boot cdrom = Boot from the CD drive. This would be for an OS install.boot = Boot to whatever default device has been configured.Just Google 'open boot prom commands' for more detail. This site has some basics.Also, ignore the Ethernet address.
You really don't need it. At some point during the OS install (or reconfigure if one is already installed), you will be giving the machine an IP and subnet mask that works on your local network. At this point you can go to the machine via the network by going to that IP address.Hope this helps.RE: Sun Microsystem sunfire v120 (Programmer) 12 Nov 15 19:57. More.If an Ethernet cable doesn't work, you might need what's called a 'Patch Cable'.
'Folks: To hook up my laptop to a V490, just plug-in a serial cable from my laptop to the console port and fire up hyper-terminal with 8N1 settings, right? Or, is there anything I left out? Thanks a lot. Mamun (Mohamed Rashid) To find out more about Reuters visit www.about.reuters.com Any views expressed in this message are. Aug 22, 2012 A serial connection, whether it be to the LOM port or to the TTYa port is your only recourse. Keep in mind that you need to establish a two-way path along that cable, thus a null adapter has to be inline. 'Send' from the external computer will then go to 'Receive' at the V120 and vice versa. A straight through serial cable will never succeed. Server Models: SunFire V100/V120/V1280/E2900 and Netra 1280/1290. Please note that any time you want to exit the serial console just.
Serial connections are directional, so the different cable swaps a couple lines to make it work. This can also be achieved with what's called a 'null modem'. It's purpose is to just swap the necessary lines for a direct connection. Again, you may or may not need it (welcome to the world of serial communications ).If you have another Sun system near by, you can run a cable directly from serial port to serial port. You would then use a 'tip' command to open up the port and talk to it. 'man tip' or Google for more info.Once you do have the Sun booting to an OS, you should work on getting an X-Windows server running on your PC (yes, it's called a server even though it's really a client.
Sunfire V120 Serial Console
X-Windows terminology here is bass ackwards). This will let you display all of the Sun's GUI glory on your PC desktop.Whatever you do, don't get discouraged. These are fun to play with and even just messing with it develops marketable skills.