Re: Soekris 4801 craziness: boot timeout

[Alan Barrett <apb%cequrux.com@localhost>]

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:
> I am *trying* to set the boot timeout on my CF card.  Here is the exact 
> command I used, on a laptop with a PCMCIA adapter:
> 
>  installboot -v -o timeout=5,console=com0,speed=19200 /dev/rwd1a 
> /usr/mdec/bbootxx_ffsv1
> 
> But the boot timeout is always 0 when I boot.  Trying the command from 
> the Soekris, in single-user mode, doesn't help.

The i386 boot timeout is implemented by repeatedly calling the BIOS
"delay n microseconds" function, and some BIOSes get it wrong.
Try setting a huge delay (it's a 32-bit integer) and see how
fast it counts down.

--apb (Alan Barrett)