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Date:      Thu, 24 Jan 2002 21:55:45 +0100 (CET)
From:      BOUWSMA Beery <freebsd-user@dcf77-zeit.netscum.dyndns.dk>
To:        freebsd-stable@freebsd.org
Subject:   /boot.config and recent -stable
Message-ID:  <200201242055.g0OKtjl00291@beerswilling.netscum.dyndns.dk>

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[replies sent directly to me may timeout and bounce, since I'm
 hardly ever online nowadays, but I'll check the list archives]


(This info may be dated, since I last updated my source on 10.jan)


Is it possible that the boot(8) man page may have some no-longer-
correct info?  I think that what I tried to do used to work some
months back, but now, well...

Quoting from the man page:

     By default, a three-stage bootstrap is employed, and control is automati-
     cally passed from the boot blocks (bootstrap stages one and two) to a
     separate third-stage bootstrap program, loader(8). [...]

     However, it is possible to dispense with the third stage altogether,
     either by specifying a kernel name in the boot block parameter file,
     /boot.config, or [...]


What I had done more than half a year ago was to build a machine
and set it up for possible headless operation by creating a /boot.config
file as specified above containing:
/kernel -P

But recently, after I updated this machine with more recent -stable
k0deZ, I noticed some things weren't quite working right.  Like `top'
f'rinstance, failing with an nlist message, in spite of repeated
attempts to rebuild it and libkvm.  Also I noticed a message at kernel
boot that loader(8) metadata was missing.

So just for fun, I moved my /boot.config file aside and voila, `top'
worked fine and no more metadata message.

Again on a lark I made the /boot.config file containing just:
-P
and then the loader went ahead as usual, and again things were in
good order, and I was pleased.  Relatively.

So, um, is it possible in this day and age to dispense with the loader
altogether, and if so, since by specifying the /kernel name in the
config file seems to be a good way to break things, how does one do so
nowadays?


thanks
barry bouwsma


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