Arch Linux

brokkr

Member

From: Denmark

Registered: 2015-11-01

Posts: 1

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Serial to USB install: Lost connection after install medium choice

I am trying for a fresh Arch install on my router after the current install has gotten a bit hairy.

The machine doesn't have a display output so the only way to talk to it - before SSH is set up - is through a serial port. Plug in a serial-to-usb cable in the router (serial end) and another host (usb end) and run minicom from a terminal. Works very well right up to the install menu. BIOS boot text nice and easy to read. The install menu shows up with garbled text mostly as a result of each character being repeated. IInnssttaall etc. Minicom's status line will at this point switch from saying online to offline. It is useable though and I can select the default "Install (x86_64, BIOS)". I then get two loading messages (not garbled) after which the sceen goes black and the tty appears unresponsive. 

Minicom is set to 115200 speed. The router is using SeaBIOS. Following suggestions in this recent thread I have tried to specify console device and speed at the kernel boot parameter line but due to the garbled text I am kinda working blind. So far I've had no luck with it. The SeaBIOS boot menu incidentally appears much like the Arch install with double characters.

Does anyone have any suggestions either as to why the display gets garbled, how to fix it, or what is happening after the screen goes dark or why?

I know there are other other options, like cloud-init, but that feels like a last resort.