IBM 88554RU Installation Guide - Page 92

3.2.4 Serial connectivity The x455 has an integrated serial port, as shown in Figure 3-4 on page 66. This port has two purposes: During the boot process (before the OS loader starts), the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) has control of the port and uses it as an auxiliary console where POST messages are transmitted, many even before the server's video port is enabled. This is especially useful in performing problem determination on the system. Once the operating system loads, it is made available to the operating system as a standard (and dedicated) COM port. To use the serial port, for use as an auxiliary console, you will need the following: A null modem cable A system running a terminal emulation program, such as HyperTerminal in Windows or minicom in Linux First, connect the RS-232 cable between the two systems. The cable should be connected to the serial port of the server, not the serial port of the Remote Supervisor Adapter. Once the cable is connected, start HyperTerminal or your emulation program. HyperTerminal should be set to the following settings: Speed: 115200 bps Data bits: 8 Parity: None Stop Bits: 1 Flow Control: None For HyperTerminal, you can leave emulation set to auto detect. If you are using another program that does not have auto detect, you may need to set emulation to ANSIW. Once your session is configured, click Connect and, assuming there is no operating system currently running, you should see POST messages or the EFI Boot Manager menu. Tip: If you are running Linux, you can redirect the console messages to the serial port. For more information about this feature refer to "Using the serial port for the Linux console" on page 171. 78 IBM xSeries 455 Planning and Installation Guide Eserver