Hitchhiker's Guide to Openbsd

5.10 - Getting more verbose output during boot
Getting more verbose output can be very helpful when trying to debug problems when booting. If you 
have a problem wherein your boot floppy won't boot and need to get more information, simply reboot. 
When you get to the "boot>" prompt, boot with boot -c. This will bring you into the UKC>, then do: 
UKC> verbose
autoconf verbose enabled
UKC> quit
Now you will be given extremely verbose output upon boot. 
5.11 - Common problems, tips and questions when compiling 
and building
Most of the time, problems in the build process are caused by not following the above directions 
carefully. There are occasional real problems with building -current from the most recent snapshot, but 
failures when building -release or -stable are almost always user error. 
Most problems are usually one of the following: 
●
Failing to start from the 
appropriate binary
, including attempting to upgrade from source or 
assuming a week old snapshot is "close enough". 
●
Checking out
 the wrong branch of the tree. 
●
Not following the 
process
. 
●
Trying to 
customize
or "optimize" your system. 
Here are some additional problems you might encounter, however: 
5.11.1 - The build stopped with a "Signal 11" error
Building OpenBSD and other programs from source is a task which pushes hardware harder than most 
others, making intensive use of CPU, disk and memory. As a result, if you have hardware which has a 
http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq5.html (22 of 26)9/4/2011 10:02:02 AM

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5 - Building the System from Source
problem, the most likely time for that problem to appear is during a build. Signal 11 failures are typically 
caused by hardware problems, very often memory problems, but can also be CPU, main board, or heat 
issues. Your system may actually be very stable otherwise, but unable to compile programs. 
You will probably find it best to repair or replace the components that are causing trouble, as problems 
may show themselves in other ways in the future. If you have hardware which you really wish to use and 
causes you no other problem, simply install a snapshot or a release. 
For much more information, see the 
Sig11 FAQ
.