# BTX Loader halted showing some register values of the processor



## vince66 (Dec 12, 2017)

Hello everybody,

i've started from DVD the installation of the FreeBSD 11.1 Stable version.
During the process, I've seen on the monitor a halt condition's message of the BTX loader, as you can see in the attached photo.
Please, can you help me to understand the meaning of the lines showing some values of the processor's registers and what it means ?


Thanks in advance.

Regards.

Vincenzo.


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## SirDice (Dec 12, 2017)

Which image did you use, on what kind of hardware?


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## vince66 (Dec 12, 2017)

The image I use is:
FreeBSD-11.1-STABLE-i386-20171130-r326381-disc1

The motherboard document is attached.

Thanks.


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## SirDice (Dec 12, 2017)

I suggest you start with a normal -RELEASE version. Any reason why you're using a -STABLE snapshot?


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## sko (Dec 12, 2017)

Any reason why you are using a 32bit variant on 64bit hardware?


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## vince66 (Dec 12, 2017)

OK ... I'll download the 64 bit version.
Please, could be a good choise the version:

FreeBSD-11.1-RELEASE-amd64-dvd1.iso ?

However, a stable snapshot is or not more stable than a release version (I think a release version is an incoming version, continuously updating).

In any case, what is the meaning of the lines in the picture ? is maybe there a processor damage ? or a damage to the motherboard ? I thing that FreeBSD give the possibility to investigate this problems. Or am I wronging ?

Thanks.


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## SirDice (Dec 12, 2017)

vince66 said:


> However, a stable snapshot is or not more stable than a release version (I think a release version is an incoming version, continuously updating).


-STABLE refers to the API/ABI not its fitness for use. It is basically a  development version.


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## vince66 (Dec 12, 2017)

ok ... thanks very much !


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## phoenix (Dec 13, 2017)

vince66 said:


> However, a stable snapshot is or not more stable than a release version (I think a release version is an incoming version, continuously updating).



You have that backwards.  

-CURRENT is the main development tree for FreeBSD.  This is what will eventually become the next major version of FreeBSD.  Right now, this is known as 12-CURRENT as it will eventually become FreeBSD 12.0-RELEASE.  There's few guarantees about the usability of this tree as things are constantly changing.  You really need to know how to build, rebuild, debug, and troubleshoot things if you want to use this (not recommended for "normal" users).

Once a major release is made and branched off of -CURRENT, that becomes the new -STABLE tree.  -STABLE is the development tree for the next minor release of FreeBSD.  There are multiple -STABLE trees at the moment (10-STABLE, 11-STABLE).  This tree is under fairly constant development, but the devs try to keep it usable at all times.  Sometimes you need to run a -STABLE box; for example, if you need a newer driver than what's in the -RELEASE, or you need a specific bug fix that was made and the next -RELEASE isn't expected for a long time.

A -RELEASE version is basically just a point-in-time snapshot of the -STABLE tree that gets a lot of extra testing and becomes an official version of FreeBSD.  These can be either major versions of FreeBSD (10.0, 11.0, etc) or a minor version (10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.3, 11.1, etc).  This rarely changes; the only changes made to -RELEASEs are security fixes and major errata fixes (this is what the -pX numbers are after a version number: 10.3-RELEASE-p20).

IOW, you want to start with a -RELEASE.  If and only if you run into issues should you try moving to a -STABLE version.

Hope that helps!


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## vince66 (Dec 14, 2017)

thanks very much ! Now it is clear.
Best Regards.

Vincenzo.


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