I've been able to see more information while using actual console, since I'm unable to funnel to virtual terminals over serial (or at least, I don't know how this can be done).
While using the recent linux and initrd with Linux 3.1 kernel, I have this pxelinux.cfg/default :
serial 0 console 0 default linux label linux kernel linux append load_ramdisk=1 initrd=initrd root=01:00 lang=US kbdmap=US console=ttyS0,9600n8 ipappend 3
I see the truncated session in the serial console,:
CLIENT MAC ADDR: 00 09 3D 10 C5 19 GUID: 00000000 0000 0000 0000 000000000000 CLIENT IP: 192.168.177.26 MASK: 255.255.255.0 DHCP IP: 192.168.177.2 GATEWAY IP: 192.168.177.2
PXELINUX 4.02 debian-20101014 C
If I check the actual console, I can use Ctrl+Alt+F2 and I see the blue screen and a udpcast prompt for my network card.
What causes the udpcast session to fly to the VT2, or what can I try to force it to use the VT1 display? Or is it a problem that the serial setting isn't following a switch to the new VT console?
This wasn't a problem for the Debian installer over PXE so I think the set up is capable of doing this.
--Donald Teed
Another problem I'm having with udpcast on these Sun V20z's is recognition the ethernet and scsi drives.
It should be using tg3 for the ethernet and sd for the scsi hard drive.
With the default initrd, it seems to probe tg3, prompts for module options but won't proceed. I am always shown the prompt to load modules repeatedly. I'm using the Linux 3.1 kernel and initrd.
I have also tried with a castomatic initrd including all modules and auto probe for disk type and ethernet. With this configuration, I get a prompt for loading the disk device module, but nothing I've manually loaded (using existing Redhat module names loaded on another system as a guide) will cause it to find /dev/sda.
Clonezilla 1.2.12 can auto-detect the hard drive and ethernet, so the hardware must be OK.
Here is what lspci reports for SCSI type and Ethernet type while an identical machine runs Redhat Linux:
02:04.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic 53c1030 PCI-X Fusion-MPT Dual Ultra320 SCSI (rev 08)
02:02.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5704 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 03)
lsmod with 2.6.18 kernel from Redhat shows these modules related to above:
mptspi 54737 2 mptscsih 69569 1 mptspi mptbase 111461 2 mptspi,mptscsih scsi_transport_spi 59841 1 mptspi sd_mod 56257 3 scsi_mod 188665 10 iscsi_tcp,ib_iser,libiscsi,scsi_transport_iscsi,ib_srp,sg,mptspi,mptscsih,scsi_transport_spi,sd_mod
tg3 145093 0
--Donald Teed