On 2006/11/13 11:30, Stephen Takacs wrote: > Alexander Hall wrote: > > Try a serial console, if possible. I have not been able to view the ddb > > output if the machine crashed while running X. Not sure if the caps lock > > etc was unresponsive, though. I am on a Dell Inspiron 4100. > > This laptop doesn't have any serial ports, but maybe one of those > USB<->RS-232 cables will work for this?
no it won't, unfortunately, but many laptops have a "real" serial port on the motherboard that you can access with a docking station (ebay is often a good source for these) which generally would work a system console (you need to set it from the boot-loader e.g. type 'set tty com0' or place it in /etc/boot.conf)
