[rescue] Serial console on an IBM RS/6000 3CT

[Sridhar Ayengar]

Andrew Jones wrote:
> Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
> 
>>The switch might be broken or stuck.  One thing I've found in my
>>experience is that an RS/6000 with no key is pretty close to useless
> 
> 
>>The machine won't boot of the CD-ROM unless the key is in "service
>>position.  If the reset button doesn't work, then the key is in
>>"secure" position.
> 
> 
> This is a much more appealing hypothesis than Patschke's, for obvious
> reasons.  I'll have to try a multimeter and see if the switch is totally
> nonfunctional.  It's definitely not stuck, as I can feel the thing
> "click". (Also, the lock was originally in "OK" position before I popped
> the switch off of it, hence my ability to open the case in the first
> place. This would mean that the "reset" button /should/ work, no?)

Actually, "OK" is not the correct position to be able to open the case. 
  It should be at "<picture of a wrench>".  Sounds to me like someone 
must have forced the case at some point.

> Perhaps I should have mentioned that the display goes completely blank
> after displaying the code '124' -- which makes Patschke's hypothesis
> ring true.  I could have sworn the power-on tests were supposed to be a
> lot longer, boot media or no boot media.

They are.

Peace...  Sridhar