Installing Debian on a Sun UltraSPARC lli through the serial pot

ronkymac · 01-03-2007, 08:50 AM

Hi all,

I've acquired a sun ultrasparc lli, without keyboard or mouse,and I'm planning to install Debian on it since Debian appears to have good support for sparc processors.

The problem is, that I don't have a sun keyboard or mouse. These are not standard PS/2 keyboards, and employ an 8 pin din instead of what you'd find on the PS2.

So, I'm guessing it might be possible to install Debian over the serial port. I've never done this before, and I have no idea how to go about doing it. Will I need a specially wired serial cable? how will the box respond to a serial input at boot time? I'd be grateful to anyone who could point me in the right direction.

Regards,
Ronald.

Dox Systems - Brian · 01-03-2007, 04:01 PM

If it has a standard serial port, a standard serial cable is what you use. You *may* need a null modem adapter, depending on how the lines are configured at what you attach on the other side. *Most* SPARC boxen will default to using ttya (serial) as input if a console (either "Sun" or USB, depending on model) is not connected.

ronkymac · 01-04-2007, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dox Systems - Brian

*Most* SPARC boxen will default to using ttya (serial) as input if a console (either "Sun" or USB, depending on model) is not connected.

That's what I was trying - but on serial port B instead of A. I'm guessing it's not possible to link up to the system through serial B without setting it up already on the system (which isn't possible in this situation). The only reason I spend ages trying to configure the VT to use port B is because I don't have a db25, so I'm guessing it might be worth investing in one now!

Incidentally, I'm using a psion series 5, which has a serial (rs232) output and a basic terminal called comms. The other end of the cable terminates with a db9: the same pinout as is on the sun box.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dox Systems - Brian

If it has a standard serial port, a standard serial cable is what you use. You *may* need a null modem adapter, depending on how the lines are configured at what you attach on the other side.

so will this mean that if I get a null modem, I can use the db9 cable from the psion and successfully convert it to a db25 through which I can connect to the sun box?

Regards,
Ronald.

Dox Systems - Brian · 01-04-2007, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronkymac

That's what I was trying - but on serial port B instead of A. I'm guessing it's not possible to link up to the system through serial B without setting it up already on the system (which isn't possible in this situation). The only reason I spend ages trying to configure the VT to use port B is because I don't have a db25, so I'm guessing it might be worth investing in one now!

Incidentally, I'm using a psion series 5, which has a serial (rs232) output and a basic terminal called comms. The other end of the cable terminates with a db9: the same pinout as is on the sun box.

so will this mean that if I get a null modem, I can use the db9 cable from the psion and successfully convert it to a db25 through which I can connect to the sun box?

Regards,
Ronald.

I believe that (if you had the console, which would eliminate the problem...) the Sun can be setup in OpenBoot to use ttyb, however, the default is ttya.

I expect that if you have the appopriate cable that you will most likely be able to do what you want.

ronkymac · 01-04-2007, 12:35 PM

Rightey, that's grand. I'll be heading in to town tomorrow so I'll pick up the appropriate cable and let you know how I get on later tomorrow night!

Regards,
Ronald.