User`s guide

2-5
Using the System
Console Strategy
The firmware starts a console–selection sequence at system boot time if any of the
following are true:
• A console has not yet been selected
• A previous console–selection sequence timed out
• A change in the system configuration has affected the console (keyboard
installed/removed, mouse installed/removed, graphics adapter installed/removed or
moved to another PCI slot).
The console–selection sequence allows you to select (from the appropriate input device)
any one of the available console devices. If no console is selected within approximately 60
seconds, serial port 1 (S1) is selected as the console and the selection sequence times–out.
Attention: If an ASCII terminal is attached to serial port 1 (S1), and there is any interaction
with this terminal:
• after OK displays in the operator panel,
AND
• before the power–up sequence is initiated,
the firmware will still use this terminal as the console, regardless of the previous console
selection.
After a console has been selected, the console–selection sequence is only started at boot
time if there is a change in the system configuration (as described above), or the contents of
the system’s non–volatile memory (NVRAM) are lost.
Note: Moving an ASCII terminal from one serial port to another (from S1 to S2) cannot be
detected by the firmware, so it does not constitute a configuration change.
You can also initiate a system console–selection sequence from the SMS menus.