There are a couple of things,

First there are _two_ switches in the front of the 4000/90. One disables 
audio the other turns on the serial console. Make sure you got the right 
one switched.

Second NetBSD _will_ screw up the Flash monitor on your 4000/90 so before 
you start you should really make a copy of it. Either peruse the archives 
of this list or write me off line and I can share with you a fairly painful 
way to do it.

After you do that, it would be really nice if you could make the firmware 
image available for those of us with screwed up 90's.

Make sure the VT420 is set up for 9600 baud 8N1, that is the default baud 
rate for the console port. If its been changed then you can either reset 
the NVRAM to get it back to the default or you can try different baud rates 
until it finds it. Some folks hooked a printer there and set it in the 
monitor to 2400 baud.

Also make sure you're in the COMM1 port of the VT420, presumably you've 
tried both ports (one is the printer port and you don't want that one.) The 
one on the right, looking at it from the back is COMM1.

--Chuck


At 08:13 PM 4/27/02 -0400, Henry R. Bent wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>My trek for the 4000/200 was a success - I'll probably have some questions
>about it in a few days once I get it up and running :-)
>
>For now my question lies with a VT420 connected to a VAXstation 4000/90.  I
>have not yet had an opportunity to get NetBSD on this machine due to my lack
>of soldering prowess and lack of MMJ->DB25 cable.  When I got the machine it
>had been taken out of service running VMS 5.5.  It has an LCSPX graphics card,
>and if you connect a monitor it displays all the normal diags and you can get
>to the PROM console.
>
>Today I connected a VT420 to it in what I thought was the correct manner -
>with a real DECconnect MMJ cable from the /90 to the VT420, S3 switched to up,
>9600 8N1 on the terminal.  Nothing ever appears on the screen.  If I enable
>modem control on the VT420, it will display "WAIT" indefinitely.  The terminal
>is not HOLDing.
>
>Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing this?  Do I need to
>take out the framebuffer to use the console, like in a DECstation?
>
>--
>Henry Bent                       henry.bent@oberlin.edu
>Want the Stars Productions       http://www.wtsp.org