Hello!
I am in the process of building a custom kernel for an example of Slackware 11.0 which uses a 2.4.33.3 kernel. I've gotten it to boot to video multiple times on my development platform, which is a Dell Dimension. But my next steps are for a target platform who'll be working largely headless.

Can loadlin be instructed to boot to a serial console? For example lilo certainly can be instructed to do so.

Ideally I am attempting to reuse a discarded thinclient. I've been advised that these devices can boot from a device attached to the IDE spot where the Disk On Module is usually installed.

Which is my intended target.

But why LOADLIN+umsdos? Why not LILO+ext3?

Because I do my best work on a Zipslack installed platform. The box does support LILO+ext3 but not now. Currently its also used to support development for a completely different process which is for binaries for a system from the same time period.

I don't understand can't you just use loadlin something like:

loadlin c:\vmlinuz root=/... console=ttyS1,9600 console=tty0

I don't either. But that was never thoroughly explored by the developer of loadlin.

So you have tried that and it does not work? Once execution passes to the kernel loadlin or any boot loader for that matter is pretty much out of the picture. The kernel should interpret the command line and fire up the serial hardware.

I don't think loadlin needs to really be aware at all; unless you specifically need loadlin to output some early messages to the serial console. I have not used loadlin since like the Slackware 9.x days but if you have not already. I'd just give it a whirl with the console arguments

Close. The belief was there, but the meaning was not. I haven't as of yet. In fact the hardware hasn't been looked at for that. In fact I've already spun up completely custom IDE only kernel, and modules, but I've not gotten around to working on the next steps.

Those involve setting up the card for it, and even includes working on how to unzip the file supplied, (same Zipslack as before.) on a Seagate 5G card.

The kernel input modules allow for a "false keyboard" one, but I have not looked into it.