on 2/16/03 4:16 AM, Richard Rauch at rkr@olib.org wrote:

> Re. http://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-help/2003/02/14/0020.html
> 
> Is it possible that you've hit the "scroll lock" key?  Or that the
> kernel thinks you have?  At least under port-i386, with wscons,
> Scroll Lock will freeze the console as you say.

THANK YOU!  That appears to have been the problem, at least this time.  I'd
give odds that was the problem I saw before as well.

> (Side note, how valuable is "scroll lock" support, anyway?  On a
> PC, the boot messages go by so quickly that you can't normally
> capture them anyway.  Once you've booted, you can use a program
> such as window, or use an X server, with xterm, and scroll-back.
> I can't recall ever wanting to use Scroll Lock, though I've
> found it locked once or twice, and seem to recall experiencing
> adverse effects, similar to what Monroe describes.  If it serves
> real utility for some, is it possible to disable it with a kernel
> option?  If not, would it be a problem to make it an option?))

I second this motion.  The inexpensive KVM switches made by Belkin use two
quick consecutive presses of "scroll lock" as an escape to initiate
switching inputs from the keyboard.  I'm sure what was happening in my case
is that someone was typing an extra "scroll lock" on the way to another
machine and inadvertantly hosing the NetBSD server.  (These machines are on
an 8-way KVM with various other servers, and several admins have access.)

Thanks again,
-- monroe
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monroe Williams                                  monroe@criticalpath.com