From:    Arnt Karlsen <arnt@???>

Date:    Sun, 29 Jun 2025 05:15:04 +0200

> ..perfect, use an usb serial port adapter, if needed.

Can order two of these,
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/176977602085
or one of these.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/356854224863

PCIe and USB are equally useable? Any preference?

> ..a 3'rd VGA, on the main board?

No. The "I/O ports list" is from system board documentation. "1x VGA"
means one VGA connector on the system board. The Radeon card has one
VGA connector and one DVI. In total that's two VGAs and one DVI.

> ..no network port on the main board?

The system board has a twisted pair Ethernet socket.
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/asus-ipibl-lb-hp-oem

The drawing notes "LAN+USB" and the I/O ports list neglects mention it.

> https://www.temu.com/ca/-pci-e-to-422-485-serial-converter-supports-300bps-921-6kbps-multiple-data-bits-stop-bits--protection-g-601099695222306.html
>
> ..this url fails here, requires Chinese espionage
> style "Security Verification."
> Use an usb serial port adapter instead, if needed.

Rather than temu I prefer one of the eBay options above.

Second message from Arnt.

> ..ok, it boots up ok with the 512MB sticks in ram slots 3 and 4?

Yes, boots equally well with the 512 MB sticks installed or not.

> ..have you tried plug in a scsi drive into the scsi card?

Not yet.

A Quantum Atlas V 3.5 series 9.1 GB is here. For my needs, probably
large enough for the whole system with swap and home remaining on the
SATA drive. It has a high density connector compared to the connector
on the SCSI card. An adapter is needed to connect the ribbon cable.

> ..easiest way ofcourse is with ssh, _if_ it boots up.

Disk activity would be audible. No activity evident.

> Then it's a simple case of banning kernel modules out
> of your way, and load the modules with the opptions
> you need, to get things working ok.

A serial console is a nice exercise. Is it likely to show where the
conflict occurs? If so, I mount the SATA drive on a working system and
block the module. Then return the drive to the Pavilion and it should
work.

> ..you only need a boot loader, like grub, on e.g. an usb
> stick, or off a pxe boot server.

Will read about pxe. Thanks for the links.

Thanks,                           ... P.

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