USB console or other alternatives

[Lowell Gilbert]

Doug Lee <dgl at dlee.org> writes:

> I'm one of these guys running FreeBSD 4.11 on very old hardware (a
> Pentium 166, specifically), and I want to upgrade to FreeBSD 6 or 7
> soon but with new hardware.  Being blind, I need to use something
> other than the video card for a console.  I've been using a serial
> console for a long time, but serial ports are getting scarce.  I need
> the console to become active during the boot sequence in case of
> problems, as it can with a serial console.  As I did with FreeBSD 3
> and 4, I will also want to activate this console during FreeBSD
> installation if possible, so I don't have to have someone else be here
> when I install it.
>
> Can modern hardware and a modern FreeBSD version provide console
> access before the kernel loads via USB or via anything other than an
> actual on-board or PCI serial port?

I am not sure, but I would expect that you would need BIOS support for
something like that.  Personally, I would stick with serial ports as
long as possible, because they are much more simple than any
alternatives.  

What do you hook up to that serial port, anyway?

Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I wanted to make sure you got
*some* help.

Good luck.