🚀 go-pugleaf

I'm still struggling up the Linux learning curve, I am making progress
but...  I thought I understood serial ports reasonably well.  I've
certainly written BIOS level serial drivers in the past.  But I have a
problem where I can't see the way forward.

I have read the Serial-HOWTO but haven't yet found a solution to my
problem.  I have two essentially identical PCs running RedHat 6.0.  The
installations are both recent.  Both PCs have two standard serial ports
and a Specialix SI multi port intelligent serial adaptor.  The
Specialix are using the current driver from the Specialix FTP site.  On
one PC I can run a getty (for a Wyse terminal) on either the standard
serial ports or the Specialix.  On the other PC attempting to run a
getty on either the standard serial port or the Specialix fails with the
"..respawning too fast.   Disabled for 5 minutes" message.  I have tried
on ttyS1 with both the standard RedHat kernel and a kernel that I have
built. However I can successfully do a "cp file /dev/ttyS1" which leads
me to suspect that the hardware isn't completely dead.  I also know that
the hardware was working correctly very recently under an old version of
Sunsoft Interactive Unix.  (Unfortunately I can't easily go back and
check again as the Linux install seems to have clobbered Interactive in
some way.)

The respawning problem may well be due to some error on my part during
installation but I need a clue as to what to look for.  Anybody any
suggestions as to what to do next?
-- 
Martin Liddle, Tynemouth Computer Services, 27 Garforth Close, 
Cramlington, Northumberland, England, NE23 6EW.
Phone: 01670-712624.  Fax: 01670-717324.