[OmniOS-discuss] OmniOS / SuperMicro motherboard and settings for IPMI SOL

[Paul Jochum]

Thank you all, I got this to work.

Here are my notes, in case anyone else runs into this.

Motherboard: SuperMicro X9SRH-7TF
BIOS FW version: 3.00
IPMI FW version: 2.40

1) When running the sol1 interface, do not run the Java version of the 
console at the same time.
2) When in doubt, reboot the IPMI.  Looks like the IPMI has a tendency 
to hang, and a reboot (or a "Unit Reset" from the web interface) helps 
to clear things up.


1) In the BIOS (most of these are defaults, but here for completeness, 
and I can cut an paste from the console now :) ):
     Advanced -> Serial Port Console Redirection ->
                 Com1, Com2 and EMS Console Redirection should be disabled
                 SOL Console Redirection should be enabled
                     SOL Console Redirection Settings ->
                         Terminal Type [VT100+]
                         Bits per second [115200]
                         Data Bits [8]
                         Parity [None]
                         Stop Bits [1]
                         Flow Control [None]
                         VT-UTF8 Combo Key Support [Enabled]
                         Recorder Mode [Disabled]
                         Resolution 100x31 [Enabled]
                         Legacy OS Redirection Resolution [80x25]
                         Putty KeyPad [VT100]
                         Redirection After BIOS POST [Always Enable]

2) Once the system is booted, change the following files:
     /<zfs root pool>/boot/grub/menu.lst
                 Comment out the line splashimage /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

     /etc/ttydefs
                 replace the line "console:9600 hupcl opost 
onlcr:9600::console"
                 with "console:115200 hupcl opost onlcr:115200::console"

     /boot/solaris/bootenv.rc
                 replace the line "setprop ttyc-mode 9600,8,n,1,-"
                 with "setprop ttyc-mode 115200,8,n,1,-"

                 replace the line "setprop console text"
                 with "setprop console ttyc"


On 11/12/2013 06:36 PM, Paul B. Henson wrote:
>> From: Paul Jochum
>> Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 2:34 PM
>>
>> neither seem to be helping.  I believe that the SuperMicro SOL is
>> basically taking the true console port (not a tty port) and putting it
>> on the LAN, and so changes to bootenv.rc and ttydefs do not affect it
>> (but this is just my hypothesis right now, and would love to be proven
>> wrong on it)
> Well, sort of, but not exactly. When you have console redirection enabled in
> the bios, it takes anything written to the standard VGA output and
> duplicates it to the serial port -- but *only* for strings written with the
> BIOS output functions. This covers POST, and typically boot loaders, but
> once the OS starts up, it drives the vga console directly, rather than
> through the BIOS, and the output only shows up on the VGA console. So, if
> you want the OS to use a serial console you need to configure it in the OS.
>
> I generally don't bother configuring grub explicitly for a serial console,
> as the bios redirection typically works fine for it. You just need to be
> sure to disable the splashscreen, as that switches the VGA console to
> graphics mode rather than text mode which the bios can't replicate. Looks
> like you already did that. As far as configuring the OS, I usually set the
> boot variables with eeprom:
>
> # eeprom console
> console=ttyc
> # eeprom ttyc-mode
> ttyc-mode=115200,8,n,1,-
>
> At least on my supermicro motherboard, there are two physical serial ports,
> and then the virtual SOL port shows up as a third.
>
> The last piece is to update the definition of the console in ttydefs:
>
> console:115200 hupcl opost onlcr:115200::console
>
> If you don't, as soon as the OS tries to start the login prompt on the
> console, there's the baud rate mismatch and it dies :(.
>
> Unless I'm misremembering/forgetting something, that's pretty much all I
> needed to do to get it going on my box...
>