According to http://kclug.org/pipermail/kclug/2008-March/032927.html it was addressed to the list, just like this one.

If it were addressed only to you, it would have been because I felt sorry for your insufficient answer and that I wished to fill you in so that you could amend your previous message to the list, saving face, and appear more useful/knowledgeable to the other members by citing actual, googleable names like IPMI, rather than "requires hardware" from "Someone", and by being a little bit more correct.

But it wasn't, because I do understand how to operate the internets. And speaking of more specific useful information, the pci KVMoIP card is called a MegaRAC G2, though there are later models with more bells and whistles. This one emulates a keyboard and mouse to the host system over USB

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jonathan Hutchins hutchins@tarcanfel.org Date: Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 8:02 PM Subject: Excuse me? To: Billy Crook billycrook@gmail.com

Why is this addressed to me? Why would you rephrase what I had said and send it back to me? I can understand why you might want to take credit for a slightly more thorough answer on the list, but why send it _only_ to me?

Do you just not understand how to use your email software?

On Monday 31 March 2008 17:51:23 you wrote:

BIOS serial console access is typically only a feature on server class motherboard, or provided through "IPMI" cards, which can cost from $100 to $400, and typically fit into a SODIMM slot that has to be on the motherboard to begin with. Software serial console can be enabled for GRUB, which is technically before the kernel, but it only starts in grub stage 2, and chances are that you won't get that far if you have a problem serious enough to need access outside of SSH.

You can find pci cards for under $200 on ebay that allow remote KVM over http usually with the aid of a java applet. The PCI card that I have and have used for this purpose is made by AMI, the BIOS company.

On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 5:36 PM, Jonathan Hutchins

hutchins@tarcanfel.org wrote:

...

BIOS-level serial console requires hardware. Someone was developing a card a few years back, but they were several hundred dollars. Software serial console doesn't kick in until the kernel loads.