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Date:      Sun, 15 Sep 2002 03:03:41 -0700 (PDT)
From:      Julian Elischer <julian@elischer.org>
To:        Sean Hamilton <sh@planetquake.com>
Cc:        hackers@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: dmesg circular buffer
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.21.0209150259290.82711-100000@InterJet.elischer.org>
In-Reply-To: <000501c25c99$af6b6d40$911de8d8@slugabed.org>

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On Sun, 15 Sep 2002, Sean Hamilton wrote:

> Greetings,
> 
> As I understand, "dmesg" prints the tail end of a circular buffer stored
> someplace on the root partition. Is it possible to have it read back beyond
> the last reboot? Occasionaly I see it do this, though I have no idea why.
> 
> In this case, I have a kernel that panicked, and am looking for clues
> Nothing in /var/log/messages...

The buffer is the last N bytes of ram, and the housekeeping for it is
with it.. If the BIOS doesn't clear it, it will last beyond a reboot.
The incoming new kernel will recognise a valid buffer and continue to
use it without overwriting teh old contents.. very useful after a crash.
I often see this. It may be related with the 'quick boot' that some BIOS
offer as an option. (takes less time if you do not clear RAM.)

julian



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