> I'm interested in running a few PC's without any video cards on them (the
> idea here is to make some minimal systems for home to serve as routers or
> home automation controllers, but I digress :-) ).
> 
> Anyone know if it's possible to run a PC without a video card?  I've looked
> at the COMCONSOLE stuff in com.c, and it seems to be sorta what I want, but
> I don't get access to the BIOS I/O for stuff like the boot blocks.

The bootblocks code can be compiled for using serial ports..  have a
look in the Makefile.

> I tried booting the beater 386 I have here without a video card; it just
> booted, ran for a few seconds, then rebooted (reason unknown, unfortunately
> :-().  None of the BIOS I/O appeared on the terminal I had hooked to COM1.

for changing BIOS setup things, you'll need a video card, obviously.

After that, in my experience it varies. Some motherboards/bioses work
fine without a video card (possibly with some special bios config
settings), others want them.

If you run a PC with no video card, try setting the bios video card
type setting (if it doesn't have a "none" option) to mono instead of
ega/vga.

You might also need to remove pcvt from the kernel, i don't know about
syscons, i very rarely use it.

In other words, fiddle some more before giving up.

> I know, I know .... you can get a video card very cheap, but I'd
> still like to think it was possible somehow.

Yah, even an old crappy mono or mdpa card will do the job.

--
Dan.