Hi,

> My theory is that the somewhat broken serial on the machine was blocking
> syslog because syslogd was trying to write to /dev/console.  Everything that
> generated a console message (like su) would eventually hang because of
> this blockage.
>
> Has anyone else seen anything like this?  Any opinions?

Yes, I've seen this on my VAX, too. At least once I've had a problem that,
while I'm not certain it is exactly this, could be explained by
/dev/console becoming blocked. I've had problems immediately after
plugging / unplugging the serial cable, rebooting the machine providing
the serial connection, and when I've accidentally allowed minicom to reset
the port.

> My personal feeling is that I am being punished for not fixing the serial
> driver. ;->

Yes, but assuming that nothing else is going on when your machine has
frozen, wouldn't it really be the fault of the computer providing the
serial connection? Wouldn't that Mac be the one punishing you?

John Klos
Sixgirls Computing Labs