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<table class="head">
<tr>
<td class="head-ltitle">PCWEASEL(4)</td>
<td class="head-vol">Device Drivers Manual</td>
<td class="head-rtitle">PCWEASEL(4)</td>
</tr>
</table>
<div class="manual-text">
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="NAME"><a class="permalink" href="#NAME">NAME</a></h1>
<p class="Pp"><code class="Nm">pcweasel</code> — <span class="Nd">Support
for the PC-Weasel serial console board</span></p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="SYNOPSIS"><a class="permalink" href="#SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></h1>
<p class="Pp"><code class="Cd">pseudo-device pcweasel</code>
<br/>
<code class="Cd">weasel* at pci? dev ? function ?</code></p>
<p class="Pp">Note that the appropriate display device must also be enabled. See
<a class="Xr">pcdisplay(4)</a> for more information.</p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="DESCRIPTION"><a class="permalink" href="#DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></h1>
<p class="Pp">The PC-Weasel is a serial console board for use primarily on
Intel-based PC-class systems. It addresses a problem that nearly everyone
who has deployed a PC-class server has experienced: the total lack of remote
management capability on PC-class hardware.</p>
<p class="Pp">In addition to serial console support, the PC-Weasel provides the
ability to remotely reset the system (by means of a hardware reset signal),
and provides a watchdog timer function.</p>
<p class="Pp">The PC-Weasel works by emulating the original IBM Monochrome
Display Adapter (MDA). Writes to the display's character cells are
translated into ANSI terminal sequences which are then sent out the
PC-Weasel's serial port. Incoming characters are translated into PC keyboard
scan codes and then fed (by means of a cable) into the system's keyboard
controller. The system believes it is using a display console. This is
particularly important in the event that one needs access to BIOS
configuration menus.</p>
<p class="Pp" id="com0">The PC-Weasel also includes a ST16550 serial port, which
may be configured as any one of the system's serial ports. Typical usage is
to configure the port as
<a class="permalink" href="#com0"><i class="Em">com0</i></a> at ISA I/O
address 0x3f8. When the PC-Weasel detects activity on the ST16550, the
serial port is automatically connected to the ST16550 so that the serial
port may be used as normal. When the PC-Weasel detects activity on the
internal UART used for MDA emulation, the serial port is automatically
reconnected to the emulation UART. This allows the boot program and kernel
to be configured to use the serial port directly (which is more efficient
than using the MDA emulation mode), yet allows the MDA emulation to be
reestablished as soon as the kernel loses control of the system.</p>
<p class="Pp">The <code class="Nm">pcweasel</code> driver provides support for
the additional features present on the PC-Weasel. At the moment, this
includes support for the watchdog timer function. Use of the
<code class="Nm">pcweasel</code> driver is not required in order for the
system to function with a PC-Weasel installed so long as only the MDA
emulation and ST16550 serial port functionality is required.</p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="SEE_ALSO"><a class="permalink" href="#SEE_ALSO">SEE
ALSO</a></h1>
<p class="Pp"><a class="Xr">pcdisplay(4)</a>, <a class="Xr">wdogctl(8)</a></p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="HISTORY"><a class="permalink" href="#HISTORY">HISTORY</a></h1>
<p class="Pp">The <code class="Nm">pcweasel</code> driver first appeared in
<span class="Ux">NetBSD 1.5.1</span>.</p>
</section>
<section class="Sh">
<h1 class="Sh" id="AUTHORS"><a class="permalink" href="#AUTHORS">AUTHORS</a></h1>
<p class="Pp">The PC-Weasel was invented by Herb Peyerl and Jonathan Levine at
Canada Connect Corporation.</p>
<p class="Pp">The <code class="Nm">pcweasel</code> driver was written by
<span class="An">Jason R. Thorpe</span> ⟨thorpej@zembu.com⟩,
and contributed by Zembu Labs, Inc. Herb Peyerl of Middle Digital, Inc.
provided several firmware updates during the development of the driver.</p>
</section>
</div>
<table class="foot">
<tr>
<td class="foot-date">November 23, 2007</td>
<td class="foot-os">NetBSD 10.1</td>
</tr>
</table>
|
