Note the different stages of the bootstrap process with informative messages.

src/bare.lsp.in

@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@
 ;;; * By redefining "SYS:" ECL will be able to
 ;;;   find headers and libraries in the build directory.
 ;;;
+(princ "
+;;;
+;;; Welcome to bare.lsp. Let's bring this instance up!
+;;;")
+
 (si::pathname-translations "SRC" `(("**;*.*.*" "@true_srcdir@/**/*.*")))
 (si::pathname-translations "EXT" `(("**;*.*.*" "@true_srcdir@/../contrib/**/*.*")))
 (si::pathname-translations "BUILD" `(("**;*.*.*" "@true_builddir@/**/*.*")))
@@ -23,6 +28,11 @@
 ;;;
 ;;; * Load Common-Lisp base library
 ;;;
+(princ "
+;;;
+;;; About to load lsp/load.lsp
+;;; ")
+
 (if (or (member "ECL-MIN" *features* :test #'string-equal)
 	(member "CROSS" *features* :test #'string-equal))
   (load "lsp/load.lsp" :verbose nil))
@@ -34,9 +44,16 @@
 ;;;
 (setf sys::*gc-verbose* nil)
 #+(or ecl-min cross)
-(load "clos/load.lsp")
+(progn
+ (terpri)
+ (princ ";;; Loading clos/load.lsp")
+ (load "clos/load.lsp" :verbose nil))
+
 #+cmu-format
-(load "src:lsp;format.lsp" :verbose nil)
+(progn
+ (terpri)
+ (princ ";;; Loading lsp/format.lsp")
+ (load "src:lsp;format.lsp" :verbose nil))
 
 ;;;
 ;;; * Load the compiler.
@@ -46,6 +63,10 @@
 #-:wants-dlopen (setq *features* (delete :dlopen *features*))
 #+:wants-dlopen (push :dlopen *features*)
 
+(terpri)
+(princ #+(or cross ecl-min) ";;; About to load cmp/load.lsp"
+       #-(or cross ecl-min) ";;; About to load cmp.so")
+
 (load #+(or cross ecl-min) "cmp/load.lsp"
       #-(or cross ecl-min) "cmp.so")
 
@@ -112,3 +133,9 @@
 ;;;
 #+ecl-min
 (setq *features* (cons :stage1 (remove :ecl-min *features*)))
+
+(terpri)
+(princ ";;;
+;;; Now we are in shape to do something useful.
+;;; End of bare.lsp")
+(terpri)

src/clos/load.lsp.in

@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@
   "src:clos;conditions.lsp"
   ))
 
-(mapc #'(lambda (x) (load x :verbose nil)) +clos-module-files+)
+(mapc #'(lambda (x)
+         (terpri)
+         (princ ";;; Loading")
+         (princ x)
+         (load x :verbose nil))
+ +clos-module-files+)
 
 (setf +clos-module-files+ (remove "src:clos;macros.lsp" +clos-module-files+ :test #'equalp))

src/compile.lsp.in

@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@
 
 (progn
   (setq *package* (find-package "SYSTEM"))
-  (setq *features* @LSP_FEATURES@))
+  (setq *features* @LSP_FEATURES@)
+  ;;(setq *compile-verbose* nil) ;; This one muffles almost everything in the compiler.
+  (setq *compile-print* nil) ;; Set to t for a lot of quite useless verbiage.
+)
 
 ;;;
 ;;; * Ensure that we have the whole of Common-Lisp to compile

src/lsp/load.lsp.in

@@ -1,9 +1,19 @@
 ;;; @configure_input@
 
+(terpri)
+(princ ";;; Loading src:lsp;export.lsp")
 (load "src:lsp;export.lsp" :verbose nil)
+(terpri)
+(princ ";;; Loading src:lsp;defmacro.lsp")
 (load "src:lsp;defmacro.lsp" :verbose nil)
+(terpri)
+(princ ";;; Loading src:lsp;helpfile.lsp")
 (load "src:lsp;helpfile.lsp" :verbose nil)
+(terpri)
+(princ ";;; Loading src:lsp;evalmacros.lsp")
 (load "src:lsp;evalmacros.lsp" :verbose nil)
+(terpri)
+(princ ";;; Loading src:lsp;cmuutil.lsp")
 (load "src:lsp;cmuutil.lsp" :verbose nil)
 
 (sys:*make-constant '+lisp-module-files+
@@ -33,6 +43,8 @@
   "src:lsp;format.lsp"
   "src:lsp;defpackage.lsp"
   "src:lsp;ffi.lsp"
+#+threads
+  "src:lsp;mp.lsp"
 #+tk
   "src:lsp;tk-init.lsp"
   "build:lsp;config.lsp"
@@ -40,8 +52,11 @@
   "src:lsp;module.lsp"
   "src:lsp;cmdline.lsp"
   "src:lsp;top.lsp"
-#+threads
-  "src:lsp;mp.lsp"
 ))
 
-(mapc #'(lambda (x) (load x :verbose nil)) (cddddr +lisp-module-files+))
+(mapc #'(lambda (x)
+         (terpri)
+         (princ ";;; Loading ")
+         (princ x)
+         (load x :verbose nil))
+ (cddddr +lisp-module-files+))