I need to access BIOS of one server over console(RS-232). It's an Award BIOS and in order to access I need to press DEL(Delete key). However, the problem is, that I'm not able to access BIOS over terminal emulation programs(I have tried with minicom and kermit). According to "showkey -s", the scancode of delete key is "0xe0 0x53" when pressed down and "0xe0 0xd3" if released. According to "showkey" this should mean that keycode of the delete character is 111("^[[3~" in ASCII). Maybe the server expects "^?" instead of "^[[3~"? How to change the keycode of the key?


PS: any general explanation regarding keycodes and keycodes in various applications is most welcome as well

Hi there,

is that a special BIOS targeted at accessing it over a serial interface? Because the standard BIOS'es don't respond to a serial interface, they rather watch the local keyboard exclusively.

That's what I was afraid of. You can't simulate a keystroke at that phase in the boot process using an RS232 link. The BIOS only looks for the local keyboard (the PS/2 port, maybe USB if you're lucky).

I know. It's not possible with standard BIOS'es.

Sounds correct (I didn't check it against the scan code list, however). But you still cannot simulate keyboard events through an RS232 interface.

What do you mean? I can't follow you on that one. Alright, the ASCII Code also defines a "DEL" character which is 0x7F, but that's decimal 127, not 111 (111 would be a lower-case 'o'), and it has nothing to do with the "Del" key on a keyboard. But how do you get the strange "^[[3~" string?? Even if I assume that ^[ is a special notation for the escape character 0x1B, it does not make sense to me.

[X] Doc CPU