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From: mikko@dynas.se (Mikko Tyolajarvi)
Newsgroups: local.freebsd-questions
Subject: Intel Endeavor install problems (639K != 640K -> SIG 11)
Date: 3 Apr 1996 19:43:32 +0200
Organization: Dynasoft AB
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Hi!

Finally it happened: I came across a machine where FreeBSD wouldn't inst=
all :-(
(That's FreeBSD 2.1-RELEASE, BTW)

Some background,

We've got some machines with with the Intel Endeavor (Advanced/EV)
motherboard, Pentium 90 or 100, 16 or 32 MB of memory and various ~1GB I=
DE
disks.

When booting, all report:

=09BIOS basemem (639K) !=3D RTC basemem (640K)

This flashes by very quickly, and I wouldn't even have noticed, if
the machine I was installing on had not failed to install. It gets
as far as ftp-ing the bin distribution (from a local machine with
a CD drive), then dies on a SIG 11.

This happend on the machine with 16 MB memory, but not on the one with 3=
2
MB.  I have second-hand information on a Dell 486 giving the same warnin=
g,
but not even being able to boot the install floppy.

Removing the disk and installing it using another (trusty 'ol 486)
then putting it back works ok. The system boots (same error message),
and runs ok.

Looking at /sys/i386/i386/machdep.c, I can locate the source of the erro=
r
message: biosboot (or is that bootbios?) locates 639/xxx K memory, but t=
he
kernes uses something it finds in RTC CMOS RAM, and reports the discrepa=
ncy.

But not knowing (not wanting to know :-) enough about PC BIOSes and such=
, I
don't really know what it implies, or where the failing 1K has gone.



Questions:

 What does the error message mean?  Is it related to the install failure=
?

 Is it harmful after installation? I.e. once the machine runs, will=20
 it continue to run? (It has so far...)

 I will probably want to put FreeBSD on more of these machines,
 how do I install on them without resorting to moving the disk
 to another machine?


Any information would be helpful,

=09=09/Mikko




--=20
 Mikko Ty=F6l=E4j=E4rvi (mikko@dynas.se)              <Insert cheesy quo=
te here>
 DynaSoft, Dynamic Software AB