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English Forums => Hardware and Performance => Topic started by: Ground_0 on March 03, 2025, 12:22:00 AM

Title: Lost access to serial console on DEC690
Post by: Ground_0 on March 03, 2025, 12:22:00 AM
I am having an issue with a DEC690 after upgrading to 25.1 wherein the serial console (whether on PuTTY/screen) drops out soon after the igb0 and igb1 interfaces come up.
I see that the documentation (https://docs.opnsense.org/hardware/serial_connectivity.html#legacy-uart-vs-uefi-serial) recommends
Quote"Should you connect your Deciso appliance with a serial line and get limited output / no output from the point of handover to the OS, it is important your BIOS settings are updated to disable legacy UART."
But, apparently, this unit does not seem to have a traditional BIOS- it seems to use a Coreboot system without any changeable options.
Title: Re: Lost access to serial console on DEC690
Post by: Patrick M. Hausen on March 03, 2025, 10:30:16 AM
The one DEC690 unit I have is running business edition 24.10 and the console works as expected.

I'd try the setting that makes APU devices work with 25.1 - possibly the 690 has an equally old fashioned serial console and BIOS.

System > Settings > Tunables - add a tunable:

Name: hint.uart.0.at
Value: isa

and reboot.

If that doesn't work, we'd best contact Deciso.
Title: Re: Lost access to serial console on DEC690
Post by: Ground_0 on March 04, 2025, 01:22:54 PM
Quote from: Patrick M. Hausen on March 03, 2025, 10:30:16 AMThe one DEC690 unit I have is running business edition 24.10 and the console works as expected.

I'd try the setting that makes APU devices work with 25.1 - possibly the 690 has an equally old fashioned serial console and BIOS.

System > Settings > Tunables - add a tunable:

Name: hint.uart.0.at
Value: isa

and reboot.

This does, indeed, work. Thank you, Patrick.

Out of curiosity, is there a way to set this flag on a fresh installation via USB flash drive?
(I notice the 25.1 USB images behave similarly on the DEC690 when booting from USB flash- I lose the serial console after the interfaces come up.)

Title: Re: Lost access to serial console on DEC690
Post by: pfry on March 04, 2025, 05:19:15 PM
Quote from: Ground_0 on March 04, 2025, 01:22:54 PM[...]
Out of curiosity, is there a way to set this flag on a fresh installation via USB flash drive?
[...]

A variation of: https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?msg=190822 (https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?msg=190822)...? Not automated or single-step, but workable.
Title: Re: Lost access to serial console on DEC690
Post by: Ground_0 on March 05, 2025, 12:42:37 PM
Quote from: pfry on March 04, 2025, 05:19:15 PM[
A variation of: https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?msg=190822 (https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?msg=190822)...? Not automated or single-step, but workable.


Thank you!
This is a thread that will undoubtedly provide helpful information for edge cases in the future!