BUG #6619: Misleading output from slave when host is not running

The following bug has been logged on the website:

Bug reference: 6619
Logged by: Petteri Räty
Email address: petteri(dot)raty(at)aalto(dot)fi
PostgreSQL version: 9.1.3
Operating system: Gentoo Linux
Description:

I setup a hot standby master and slave following instructions at:

http://michael.otacoo.com/postgresql-2/postgres-9-1-setup-a-synchronous-stand-by-server-in-5-minutes/

I left archive mode off.

When I started the slave without the master running I got the following
output:

$ postgres -D gsd-replica/
LOG: database system was interrupted while in recovery at log time
2012-04-25 12:01:33 UTC
HINT: If this has occurred more than once some data might be corrupted and
you might need to choose an earlier recovery target.
LOG: entering standby mode
WARNING: WAL was generated with wal_level=minimal, data may be missing
HINT: This happens if you temporarily set wal_level=minimal without taking
a new base backup.
FATAL: hot standby is not possible because wal_level was not set to
"hot_standby" on the master server
HINT: Either set wal_level to "hot_standby" on the master, or turn off
hot_standby here.
LOG: startup process (PID 28761) exited with exit code 1
LOG: aborting startup due to startup process failure

The error message above on the FATAL line is wrong (or at least misleading).
The real problem should be that it can't connect to the master. The
wal_level on the master is hot_standby (captured after I started it):

=# SHOW wal_level;
wal_level
-------------
hot_standby
(1 row)