Running Old Desktops Headless? 347
CajunArson writes "I recently dug up an old P4 that is in fine working order and did what any self-respecting Slashdotter would do: I slapped Linux on it to experiment with making an NFSv4 server. One other thing I did was to remove the old AGP video card to save on power, since this is a headless machine. Now, I removed the video card after the installation, and I'm doing just fine as long as the machine will boot to a state where networking works and I can SSH to it. My question: Is there a good solution to allow me to log into this box if it cannot get on the network? I'm looking for solutions other than slapping a video card back in. In my case, I will have physical access to the machine. A few caveats to make it interesting: This question is for plain old desktop/laptop systems, not network servers designed to run headless. Also, I am aware of the serial console, but even 'old' machines may only have USB, and I have not seen any good documentation on how and whether USB works as a substitute. Finally, if there is any way to access the BIOS settings without needing a video card, that would be an extra bonus, but I'm satisfied with just local OS access starting from the GRUB prompt."
Just put the vid card back? (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe I'm way off base here, but putting in an old low memory (2-32MB) APG card isn't going to draw that much power. I totally understand your issues with wanting to run a headless machine, I have a few myself. But honestly I've found it's just a LOT easier to leave a cheapo card in the rig so that if something comes up I don't have to crack open a case.
Control Card? (Score:5, Insightful)
I know there's a type of card that will push the serial interface through the network, if having a serial console (like running HyperTerminal in windows with a Null Modem cable plugged in) is not sufficient. That should allow you to get to the bios without having the monitor plugged in-- that's the theory, at least.
Also, if you're using this system as the lowest wrung sort of server, you might want to look into simply buying some Via Nano or Intel Atom hardware and just creating an ultra low-wattage server. Older desks were not renowned for their power efficiency, so over a few months, if its running 24/7, more efficient hardware might actually pay for itself in terms of energy costs, especially if you're somewhere with expensive power like California. It might be clever to cannibalize your old systems for hard disks and such and use them in this low power system, since the power usage of the hard disk will be largely a software problem, etc.
Re:Good luck (Score:5, Insightful)
You're all putting WAY too much thought into this. The easiest way to do this is to take a magnet and manually adjust your hard drive until it has the SSH capability you're looking for. Everyone has at least 1 or 2 good magnets laying around, and with a steady hand this could become a great do it yourself project. Plus, you get epeen bragging rights when people start talking about how they used to code in assembly. You coded with a magnet and a HD.
Wait? That would be a pain in the ass? Almost impossible?
The AGP card is rated for 63 watts, maximum. Over a year that's 552 kWh. Paying for electricity at $0.15 a kWh you run into an additional $6.90 a month to run the AGP card.
1. Find a quarter in your couch cushions.
2. Plug the damn thing in for the 10 minutes it would take to setup a remote SSH connection using the suggestions people have put in this thread.
3. Pay the additional power bill with the quarter.
4. Move on with your life
5.....
6. Profit!
Re:Control Card? (Score:4, Insightful)
That's a reasonable suggestion.
If he truly needs a light weight, always on server then a new mini is a good idea. Modern, low power with a built in console. He can get just as much technical fun from setup and tweaking. If he is so impoverished he can't afford the $200-$300 then he probably does not need to be upgrading the old box and running it around the clock.
Personally, I've lost fascination with dinking around with old hardware. If I have a specific solution to implement or new skill to learn, I prefer a more forward looking approach with things that are new.
Re:Serial console (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Serial console (Score:3, Insightful)
> The easy solution is to buy a serial card for these machines.
No.
By far the easiest solution is to leave the VGA card in the machine.
Removing it to save power is a pointless exercise. As long as you don't have a monitor running removing the card saves virtually nothing.
Unpower floppys, CD readers, and all the fans you can get away with, but yanking video cards just silly.
What makes this post especially silly is that many older machines have on-board video anyway.
"Real" servers can do it (Score:3, Insightful)
Many server-class machines have something called IPMI (IP Management Interface), sometimes called LOM (Lights-Out Management). It is essentially KVM over IP, but built into the motherboard, sometimes via a small add-on card.
If you're playing around with desktop equipment, you should know that most boards will refuse to boot if a video card isn't detected. If you're trying to do this the cheap way, pop in the simplest video card you can find, hook it up to a KVM and get on with your life.
I run a bunch of headless machines here, they're all fully-functional PCs. When something breaks, I just whip out a USB keyboard and a VGA extension cord, and deal with it. The rest of the time it's all SSH and/or serial.
Re:Good luck (Score:5, Insightful)
the processor is a P4 ... why worry about the power consumption of the AGP card ?