Subject: port-macppc/9509: serial port naming to avoid confusion
To: None <gnats-bugs@gnats.netbsd.org>
From: Erik E. Fair <fair@digital.clock.org>
List: netbsd-bugs
Date: 02/29/2000 10:19:00
>Number: 9509
>Category: port-macppc
>Synopsis: serial port naming to avoid confusion
>Confidential: no
>Severity: non-critical
>Priority: low
>Responsible: port-macppc-maintainer (NetBSD/macppc Portmaster)
>State: open
>Class: change-request
>Submitter-Id: net
>Arrival-Date: Tue Feb 29 10:18:00 2000
>Last-Modified:
>Originator: Erik E. Fair
>Organization:
International Organization of Internet Clock Watchers
>Release: 1.4.2
>Environment:
System: NetBSD digital.clock.org 1.4.2_ALPHA NetBSD 1.4.2_ALPHA (DIGITAL) #10: Mon Jan 10 22:38:56 PST 2000 fair@doomsday.clock.org:/usr/obj/sys/arch/alpha/compile/DIGITAL alpha
>Description:
The Macintosh has long documented its two standard serial
ports as the "modem" port and the "printer" port. There
are icons on the system case indicating which is which.
Openboot Firmware names these ports "ttya" and "ttyb",
consistent with OF's origins with Sun Microsystems.
In order to avoid a class of user support issues around
port naming confusion, I suggest that:
1. We change MAKEDEV to name the macppc serial ports "ttya"
and "ttyb"
2. We also change MAKEDEV to create symlinks, thus:
modem -> ttya
printer -> ttyb
There is one case where this still might not completely
solve the problem: the powerbooks have a combined
"modem/printer" port, and an internal serial port which
connects to an internal modem, and there is a software
mechanism to determine which is which in MacOS.
I have no idea how the PB serial port hardware actually
works, so there might have to be something clever done to
deal with this.
>How-To-Repeat:
>Fix:
>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted: