[coreboot] v3 parallel port console?

[Corey Osgood]

On Mon, Sep 15, 2008 at 8:14 PM, Joseph Smith <joe at settoplinux.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:28:40 +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger
> <c-d.hailfinger.devel.2006 at gmx.net> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> since the market share of machines with a serial port is shrinking
>> rapidly and USB debug cables are not affordable at all for hobbyists, we
>> may need to support console on parallel port.
>> I do realize that not all machines lacking a serial port will have a
>> parallel port, but as long as it improves our console coverage, I'm
>> inclined to suggest parallel console support as a viable option.
>>
>> Parallel port console support has the advantage of being faster than
>> serial port console, at the same time keeping the cost for a cable in
>> the single digit dollar range.
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>> Do we have any other devices on board which don't require interrupts to
>> run? Floppy connector? POST cards? PC speaker (with 1-wire protocol)? Is
>> it possible to use any of them with cheap home-built adaptors?
>>
> I like this idea. I would also be nice to be able to use a parallel port
> post (say that five times fast) card for embedded boards without a PCI
> slot. The one I have does both, PCI and/or Parallel.

The question I have is, are there really systems out there that have
parallel and not serial? I've seen/owned a few systems with serial and
no parallel port (all OEM systems, HP and Gateway and the like), but
none vice versa. If they exist, and there's a need for it, I'm all for
it! As far as other options, I don't see any that aren't on their way
out on your list, aside from PC speakers, which are being integrated
onto the mainboard more and more often.

-Corey