112 lines
4.6 KiB
Groff
112 lines
4.6 KiB
Groff
.\" $NetBSD: pcweasel.4,v 1.1 2000/11/04 18:51:59 thorpej Exp $
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.\"
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.\" Copyright (c) 2000 Zembu Labs, Inc.
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.\" All rights reserved.
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.\"
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.\" Author: Jason R. Thorpe <thorpej@zembu.com>
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.\"
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.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
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.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
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.\" are met:
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.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
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.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
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.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
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.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
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.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
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.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
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.\" must display the following acknowledgement:
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.\" This product includes software developed by Zembu Labs, Inc.
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.\" 4. Neither the name of Zembu Labs nor the names of its employees may
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.\" be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
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.\" without specific prior written permission.
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.\"
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.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY ZEMBU LABS, INC. ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS
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.\" OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WAR-
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.\" RANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DIS-
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.\" CLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL ZEMBU LABS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
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.\" INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
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.\" NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
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.\" DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
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.\" THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
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.\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
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.\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
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.\"
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.Dd October 19, 2000
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.Dt PCWEASEL 4
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.Os
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.Sh NAME
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.Nm pcweasel
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.Nd Support for the PC-Weasel serial console board
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.Sh SYNOPSIS
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.Cd "pseudo-device pcweasel"
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.Pp
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Note that the appropriate display device must also be enabled. See
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.Xr pcdisplay 4
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for more information.
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.Sh DESCRIPTION
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The PC-Weasel is a serial console board for use primarily on
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Intel-based PC-class systems. It addresses a problem that
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nearly everone who has deployed a PC-class server has experienced:
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the total lack of remote management capability on PC-class hardware.
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.Pp
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In addition to serial console support, the PC-Weasel provides the
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ability to remotely reset the system (by means of a hardware reset
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signal), and provides a watchdog timer function.
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.Pp
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The PC-Weasel works by emulating the original IBM Monochrome
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Display Adapter (MDA). Writes to the display's character
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cells are translated into ANSI terminal sequences which are
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then sent out the PC-Weasel's serial port. Incoming characters
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are translated into PC keyboard scan codes and then fed (by means
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of a cable) into the system's keyboard controller. The system
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believes it is using a display console. This is particularly
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important in the event that one needs access to BIOS configuration
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menus.
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.Pp
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The PC-Weasel also includes a ST16550 serial port, which may
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be configured as any one of the system's serial ports. Typical
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usage is to configure the port as
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.Em com0
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at ISA I/O address 0x3f8. When the PC-Weasel detects activity
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on the ST16550, the serial port is automatically connected to
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the ST16550 so that the serial port may be used as normal. When
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the PC-Weasel detects activity on the internal UART used for MDA
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emulation, the serial port is automatically reconnected to the
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emulation UART. This allows the boot program and kernel to be
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configured to use the serial port directly (which is more efficient
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than using the MDA emulation mode), yet allows the MDA emulation
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to be reestablished as soon as the kernel loses control of the
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system.
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.Pp
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The
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.Nm
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driver provides support for the additional features present on
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the PC-Weasel. At the moment, this includes support for the
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watchdog timer function. Use of the
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.Nm
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driver is not required in order for the system to function with
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a PC-Weasel installed so long as only the MDA emulation and
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ST16550 serial port functionality is required.
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.Sh SEE ALSO
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.Xr pcdisplay 4 ,
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.Xr wdogctl 8
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.Sh HISTORY
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The
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.Nm
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driver first appeared in
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.Nx 1.5.1 .
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.Sh AUTHOR
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The PC-Weasel was invented by Herb Peyerl and Jonathan Levine
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at Canada Connect Corporation. It is now produced by Middle
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Digital, Inc., http://www.realweasel.com/
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.Pp
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The
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.Nm
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driver was written by
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.An Jason R. Thorpe
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.Aq thorpej@zembu.com ,
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and contributed by Zembu Labs, Inc.
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Herb Peyerl of Middle Digital, Inc.
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provided several firmware updates during the
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development of the driver.
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