>> The simplest way to debug something is using a serial port, do you have >> access to the one on this machine? > >Yes, there is one. It seems to sort-of mirror the on-screen messages up to >the point the NetBSD boot runs. I tried > consdev com0,9600 >from the boot prompt but that hung the machine.
Why not try booting Linux on the thing to find out how the serial port is configured. Are you connecting another computer to the serial port on the back or using the system management controller?