Nexcom 1041/console redirection & boot
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what I've got:
1. nexcom 1041.
2. 2GB CF Card.
3. Keyboards (either or both) on USB and PS2 (using provided K&M PS2 to board cable).
4. Everything setup correctly in the bios for the CF, etc.
5. Serial (using I/O port & cable) with minicom or hyperterm.The good stuff:
I can boot with m0n0 1.235 on CF, the installation process without bios console redirect set and with PS2 keyboard works.
I can boot with m0n0 1.235 on CF, the installation process with bios console redirect, neither ps2 nor usb keyboard works but serial keyboard works (as expected).
The bad stuff:
I can boot with pfsense 1.2.2 or 2.0Alpha.200090201 on CF, bios console redirection settings don't seem to matter…
I can see the bios boot and the initial bsd loader and after that it forces redirection to console.
I can then watch pfsense go through it's usual bootup sequence and everything seems fine until I get to the "use VLANs" yes/no where I find NO keyboard input works (serial, ps2 or usb).What I'm thinking:
I'm using generic-pc-1.235.img for m0n0 and pfSense-*-Embeded.img for pfsense....
so does the embeded have forced console redirection? If so can it be disabled before or during boot?I do know a few people seem to be using the nexcom boxes with pf, but most references seem to be to HDD installs using the full ISO/cd.
Is it possible to-do a straight CF install with the 1041?I've lost the copy/paste of the serial pf boot sequence, I'll go grab this if needed.
Any input is appreciated as I don't really want to use m0n0 or different hardware.
EDIT: I just saw http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,13811.0.html which seems plausible if I can get a USB or IDE CD drive hooked up, do a full install then switch to embeded. I will be trying this but I'm still interested as to root issue of console redirection.
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minicom boot log: http://paste2.org/p/144527
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Te embedded version always outputs only on the console.
If you want VGA output you need the fullversion.
Search the forum on how to change a fullinstall to embedded.
This might help: http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Full_Install_on_WRAP_Embedded_Router -
Thanks for the reply, that clarified what I thought to be the case (but couldn't find anywhere)! Strange that the keyboard wouldn't work in minicom though…
I managed to use a USB CD and a HDD to get the unit into testing, it's using an extra 0.05A with the HDD but it's only using 0.17A anyway (240V).
I'll have another go when I get more time (and maybe look into getting a cheap-ish/32GB SSD to replace the HDD.