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Re: [Xen-users] Verification of CPU



Quoting Nico Kadel-Garcia <nkadel@xxxxxxxxx>:

jonr@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Quoting Nico Kadel-Garcia <nkadel@xxxxxxxxx>:


This sort of thing is why I prefer to stuff fake keyboard widgets onto
the PS/2 port, rather than rely on BIOS resetting to allow the system
to boot without a keyboard attached on so many server class systems.

This is a good case for serial console access with a cyclades or some other type of serial access box. You then ssh into the cyclades and can then connect to the serial port and change your BIOS settings.
Which are..... $1000/16 port console last time I looked, plus
ridiculously expensive specialized cabling with pinouts invented by
Bozo the wiring clown, doesn't necessarily work at all given the
extremely poor BIOS testing of new motherboards and failure to test
"remote console", and notice what I just said about resetting the BIOS
if it fails to reboot 3 times in a row?  That usually disables the
so-called "remote console" or actually the serial BIOS access. So does
any update of the BIOS itself, even if it's for a critical repair.

Serial console is most reliable for system shell access, not BIOS
access, due to these little adventures. It's OK if you retain keyboard
and console access for such emergencies, but it's not a complete
solution to the BIOS management problem.

True, I realized that it wouldn't work after a 3rd reboot anyway but I had already sent my message to the list. So I guess the only thing to do would be to make sure that this "feature" of the BIOS is not implemented in the board that you buy. Sometimes that is unavoidable though, if you are using a manufacturers setup such as a blade center as opposed to building your own.

Thanks for the education Nico, I will be watching more closely for this in my future purchases.

Jon



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