6.1-prerelease: boot loader pause timer hangs

[Rob]

Rob wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I am keeping in sync with 6-Stable every now and
> then. At present I have a problem with the pause
> timer of the boot loader. In /boot/loader.conf I
> have:
> 
>  autoboot_delay="3"
> 
> and as soon as the pause timer is supposed to count
> down, it kind of hangs; actually, the cursor seems
> to jump as if the number "3" is continuously printed
> instead of a countdown. This 'hang' continues until
> I hit the return key, after which the boot process
> continues as usual.
> 
> When I remove the delay line in loader.conf, then
> the loader displays a pause timer of "10", but
> actually *immediately* continues as if the pause
> timer is zero (so no delay at all).
> 
> I believe there's something wrong with the boot
> loader in 6.1-Prerelease. Or has my PC become buggy?
> 
> Any idea what's the problem?
> Anybody else sees this?

Just for the record: I have found the problem and
reply my own solution to the problem here:

I had changed my /boot.config from "-P" to "-D"
and I checked the boot-up on the video console
(not serial). Meanwhile the serial port was
connected to a data acquisition equipement, which
obviously confused the boot-up communication.
This, however, I did not realize while watching
the peculiar boot-up on the console.

My conclusion: do not use "-D" in /boot.config,
unless the serial port is either not connected,
or connected to a remote terminal. Using "-P"
here is safer.

Regards,
Rob.


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