I asked:
>
> I want to set up a server to run and then take away it's monitor. Is
> there any problem with this - anything special I have to do (i.e. in
> /etc/inittab or elsewhere)?
>
The complete answer came from Paul E. Rockwell <rockwell_at_rch.dec.com>
who wrote:
Short answer:
If you just want to take away the monitor from the graphics card,
that's OK. You don't need to make any other modifications.
Longer answer:
You don't say what model of server you have...
If it's an AlphaServer 2100 or 2000 system, you don't *really* need
the graphics console/keyboard/mouse. Simply set the environment variable
"console" to "serial" and plug a serial console (something that will do
vt400, 8 bit controls) into the com1 port.
If you do this, the system will see that serial port as the "console" (that
means that stuff displayed to the "console" in single user mode will appear
on that port), and will bring up an X session on the graphics card.
If you don't want the graphics card to be used at all (but still want
to run the xdm process to allow X terminals to log in), you can delete the
vga0 device entry from your kernel (it'll be present because the system
configuration auto sized it) and rebuild. The X server will no longer
be brought up.
The latest versions of the ECU and console code run fine on a serial port.
The only gotcha is if you've got a EISA or PCI-based RAID controller (SWXCR,
KZESC or KZPSC). Those may still require a graphics card to run the
standalone
RAID software. So in this case, set "console" to "graphics", power down the
system, plug the monitor, keyboard, and mouse back in and power on the
system.
Voila. You now have a graphics-based console. Remember to set "console"
back to
"serial" , power off, remove the devices, and power back on the system when
you're done.
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Michael R. Kline mike_at_lib.utexas.edu
General Libraries Office: (512) 495-4391
University of Texas at Austin FAX : (512) 495-4347
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Received on Wed Aug 16 1995 - 17:41:04 NZST