Hector Martin on Twitter: "But *real* server VGA redirection can work in both ways. Either you have a VGA capture system pulling VGA from a "normal" VGA card on the PC, or (more common these days), the BMC chipset *is* the main VGA card connected over the PCI(e) bus, and thus also drives the VGA connector.… https://t.co/ANAabGRd54"

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foone‏ @Foone 29 May 2020

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I wonder what this port is? I guess based on the positioning, the dell servers it's designed for would have a special connector there, but what does it do? Maybe VGA/keyboard? those aren't easy to run over PCI...pic.twitter.com/u1eeCVgzV6

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Hector Martin‏ @marcan42 29 May 2020

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Replying to @Foone

Has to be power control, right? The card needs to be able to turn the server on and off after all. Maybe also more standby power. I don't know about that era, but these days the BMC (generic term) also *is* the video card, so that could run over PCI. But no VGA out so maybe not.

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Hector Martin‏ @marcan42 29 May 2020

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Replying to @marcan42 @Foone

There's a 9-pin IDC connector too, which could be for a serial port bracket for the iDRAC itself, *or* to loop back to the server's own serial port. The latter would make a lot of sense.

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Hector Martin‏ @marcan42 29 May 2020

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I can't find the manual PDF, but there's a cache: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:_bzhyQVieFoJ:https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~brecht/servers/docs/PowerEdge-2600/en/Drac/dra24bk1.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=jp#19 … Looks like it takes standby power from an external power adaptor! And it's optional but if not present, it can only run for a while on battery.

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Hector Martin‏ @marcan42 29 May 2020

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It seems they call the extra mobo connector the "ESM" connector, and it sounds like it's mostly an interface to another micro on the motherboard that fans out to whatever they need to control. So if I had to guess it's some serial/i2c/spi or someting interface to it?

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Hector Martin‏ @marcan42 29 May 2020

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And it might also have the basic serial port interface on it for console redirection. I'm getting the feeling that DRAC in this age did not support VGA/keyboard/mouse redirection, only serial...

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Hector Martin‏ @marcan42 29 May 2020

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Replying to @marcan42 @Foone

Oh nope, the manual says it does VGA too. Maybe it is in that connector too. 15 pins is enough for basic VGA + serial x2 or so.

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Hector Martin‏ @marcan42 29 May 2020

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Ohh wait. They cheat and use drivers. So it doesn't *actually* do VGA redirection. They probably have some hack, like mirroring the VGA text hardware in the iDRAC card or BIOS tricks for text, and rely on drivers for anything else. Same for kb/mouse.pic.twitter.com/QI70UU3eDe

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Hector Martin‏ @marcan42 29 May 2020

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Replying to @JonathanWHendry @Foone

It's neither, because they don't actually do VGA redirection as I explained. They just have some data channel and some driver that scrapes the screen and pumps frames over that to be sent via the modem or Ethernet.

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Hector Martin‏ @marcan42 29 May 2020

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Replying to @marcan42 @JonathanWHendry @Foone

But *real* server VGA redirection can work in both ways. Either you have a VGA capture system pulling VGA from a "normal" VGA card on the PC, or (more common these days), the BMC chipset *is* the main VGA card connected over the PCI(e) bus, and thus also drives the VGA connector.

12:55 AM - 29 May 2020

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1. Hector Martin‏ @marcan42 29 May 2020
  
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  This is why you see lots of "Matrox" graphics on servers. They're not Matrox chips. They're Matrox IP cores embedded into BMCs, like the Nuvoton WPCM450 which contains an embedded "Matrox MGA G200eW" GPU.
  
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