On Sat, 7 Sep 2002, Adam Kranzel wrote:

> Hi all...
> 
> however, it doesn't have MacOS installed.  This system defaults to ttya
> as the serial console port, however this is taken by the internal modem.

I had similar problems installing LinuxPPC on a 6400.  In the end I
removed the back plate, unplugged the modem (it's sitting in a dedicated
slot just below the PCI slots [1]) and then connected the serial line to
another machine (in my case a Sparc IPX) and talked to OF via kermit.  
After figuring out my "personal magic numbers" for load-base et al, and
installing and then setting up the 6400's OF vars to autoboot the kernel
image directly off the hard disk, I unplugged the serial console and have
not had to plug it back in once since then (4 years ago -- and this
machine is _still_ doing sterling service as my home NAT and firewall :).

Ian

[1] it's a horrible modem anyway: I left it unplugged and was far better
    off afterwards with a USR Courrier connected to the printer port.