Soekris Engineering net5501 SBC setup with Linux

2008/09/03

net5501 is a x86 SBC that I ordered with 4 10/100 ethernet ports, 512MB memory, 500MHz Geode LX CPU

Serial console is used for setup of net5501 – BIOS writes to serial port since there is no xVGA port. <ctrl-p> to enter BIOS setup. DB9 pinout:

2 — 3

3 — 2

5 — 5

Use 19,200 bps 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop

With the Macbook Pro, I use a Keyspan USA-19HS USB <–> DB9 RS232 serial converter (and DB9-RJ45 adapters to implement the null modem configuration and allow me to use an ethernet cable for the serial console <–> Keyspan device.

On OS X (10.5) I use “screen” to provide the serial terminal interface:

$ screen /dev/tty.USA19H1a2P1.1 19200,8

<ctrl-a><ctrl-\> to exit

On the net5501 BIOS, PXEBoot is disabled:

set PXEBoot=Disabled

I setup voyage-0.5.0 on a compact flash card then installed the card into the net5501 – works great the first boot

Default root info: root / voyage

OpenBSD setup info:

http://techblagh.blogspot.com/2008/08/installing-openbsd-43-on-soekris-5501.html