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Running Old Desktops Headless?
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."
Yes, he added several conditions, effectively saying "No, I don't want to do this the easy or logical way; I want to make this unnecessarily difficult, by disabling every form of I/O built into the machine except one (the NIC), but still having a way to interact with it (other than that one)." I recommend clairvoyance and telekinesis. :)
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
I recommend clairvoyance and telekinesis.
Now, now, there's no need for snarkiness. We can accommodate the specs without resorting to hocus-pocus and imaginary abilities.
The solution is quite simple - he just needs to get a lemon (although lemon juice might suffice, it's not optimal, as I'll explain further.)
How it works is simple - you put a 1/2" slice of the lemon in your mouth, then stick in the end of the ethernet cable. The juice from the lemon reacts with your metal fillings and the copper from the network cable, generating electricity, which can then be used to set up an ethernet link by humming at the correct frequencies.
Once slice of lemon will provide approximately 8 to 10 minutes of power for this - be careful not to slice the lemon too thick or thin - too thin and you'll run out of power too soon, and too thick and you'll be wasting the juice in the center (This is why lemon juice is suboptimal - it washes away too quickly, so you'll be needing to "recharge" every 20-30 seconds.)
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.
Butterflies. What the OP needs are butterflies.
http://xkcd.com/378/
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.