IBM 600E laptop installation

[Matthew Dillon]

:I couldn't get it to break out, but I did find some other information:
:
:1.0A CD: works
:11/18/2004 stable image: works
:1.2.5 RELEASE CD: crashes as described (LATEST image from chlamidiya)
:1.2.0 RELEASE CD: prints this:
:
:CD Loaded 1.01
:
:Building the boot loader arguments
:Looking up /BOOT/LOADER... Found
:Reloacting the loader and the BTX
:Starting the BTX loader
:
:and then it freezes.
:
:When did we significantly change from the FreeBSD boot loader, and does it
:intersect with this time frame?  I suppose I can install 1.0A and update,
:though it'll take a looong time on an older laptop like this.

    It was between 1.0A and 1.2, but when I'm not sure.   The problem is
    that the BIOS lies about what memory is available.  The boot loader
    tries to use the memory, and things blow up.  Trying to figure out
    what memory the boot loader can or cannot use is a hit-or-miss 
    proposition.  What will work on one computer will not work on another.
    The problem is compounded by FreeBSD's original boot loader design,
    the 'BTX' junk, which tries to create a generic operating environment
    (including changing the vector table) for the various boot loader
    stages.  The forth code doesn't help matters, either.  It just makes
    things even less understandable.

					-Matt
					Matthew Dillon 
					<dillon at xxxxxxxxxxxxx>