Hi, The console subsystem already has an idea of a boot console, using the CON_BOOT flag. The implementation has some flaws though. The major problem is that presence of a boot console makes register_console() ignore any other console devices (unless explicitly specified on the kernel command line). This patch fixes the console selection code to *not* consider a boot console a full-featured one, so the first "normal" console registering will become the default boot console instead. This way the unregister call for the boot console in register_console() actually triggers and the handover from the boot console to the real console device works smoothly. The patch also changes the x86 early_printk code to use this. The early console is simply tagged as boot console, the disable_early_printk() call is gone as it isn't needed any more. cheers, Gerd -- Gerd Hoffmann