[duodecim]

You probably need some sort of frame-buffer driver for the console output to work correctly. Most VIA Epia boards (all?) need at least the console frame-buffer driver in the kernel to get any output when you're not in X.

I feel VIA missed a lot of opportunities – they always pretend to have good support for open-source software, but my own experiences point out that for instance Linux support for those Epia boards is half-assed at best... The basics work, but don't expect any extras, such as hardware acceleration.

Not having (good enough) support for open-source operating systems is shooting yourself in the foot with this sort of product.

And if one wants to make an own router app, as you mention – there are better platforms for building console-only embedded-style systems.