lilo removal in squeeze (or, "please test grub2")
in [Debian]
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From: Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. on 26 May 2010 16:00 On Wednesday 26 May 2010 13:23:44 Stefan Monnier wrote: > > for much. But I am opposed to the removal of lilo. Both grub-legacy and > > grub-pc use sectors on the hard disk outside of the master boot record > > (cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1). In other words they use cylinder 0, head > > 0, sector 2 and possibly subsequent sectors on cylinder 0 head 0. > > Really? Never heard of it, and it sounds very odd: why would they do > that when they can (and do, AFAICT) use sectors on specified partitions? > Is that documented/discussed somewhere? That's where the stage 1.5 is embedded, AFAIK. Using sectors allocated to a partition would be extra bad -- not everything that "consumes" a block device avoids using the first so many bytes. (XFS for one.) If you know that the first part of a partition is not used by the file system on it (or LVM, or RAID, or whatever that consumes that block device), GRUB 1 does support embedding the stage 1.5 in a partition. GRUB's stage 1 is an MBR, and resides where it should. GRUB's stage 1.5 is the code that understands the file system, and resides between the MBR and the first partition. GRUB's Stage 2 does the menus, kernel/initrd loading, etc. It resides as a file on a file system. That's my understanding how how GRUB 1 works. GRUB 2 is a different beast in some respects, but my understanding is that these stages still apply, conditionally. Depending on the modules needed, the stage 1 may be able to load modules from the file system and boot directly. Failing that, a stage 1.5 is still used. When using a "DOS" partition table, it is embedded between the table and the first partition; When using a GPT partition table, it is embedded in a dedicated partition--GPT uses the space between the table and the first partition. The stage 1.5 is used to load modules from the file system. In GRUB 2, there is no single "stage 2"; whatever modules are loaded from the file system fill that role. I don't know if GRUB 2 still supports embedding the "stage 1.5" at the beginning of a partition under a "DOS" partition table. -- Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. ,= ,-_-. =. bss(a)iguanasuicide.net ((_/)o o(\_)) ICQ: 514984 YM/AIM: DaTwinkDaddy `-'(. .)`-' http://iguanasuicide.net/ \_/
From: Samuel Thibault on 26 May 2010 19:10 Stefan Monnier, le Wed 26 May 2010 14:23:44 -0400, a �crit : > > for much. But I am opposed to the removal of lilo. Both grub-legacy and > > grub-pc use sectors on the hard disk outside of the master boot record > > (cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1). In other words they use cylinder 0, head 0, > > sector 2 and possibly subsequent sectors on cylinder 0 head 0. > > Really? Yes. > Never heard of it, It's called stage 1.5, which contains the code for the filesystem support. > and it sounds very odd: why would they do > that when they can use sectors on specified partitions? Because the question is "where?". The lilo approach is "inside the filesystem", which can break. The grub approach is "right after MBR", which needs room there. Samuel -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-boot-REQUEST(a)lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster(a)lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20100526223103.GD4628(a)const.famille.thibault.fr
From: Frans Pop on 26 May 2010 19:40 On Thursday 27 May 2010, Samuel Thibault wrote: > Because the question is "where?". The lilo approach is "inside the > filesystem", which can break. The grub approach is "right after MBR", > which needs room there. grub (legacy) can be installed in any partition. IIUC grub2 is limited to being installed in the MBR. For me that's one of the major downsides of grub2 and one reason I still very much prefer grub. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-boot-REQUEST(a)lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster(a)lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/201005270132.18407.elendil(a)planet.nl
From: Samuel Thibault on 26 May 2010 20:20 Frans Pop, le Thu 27 May 2010 01:32:17 +0200, a �crit : > On Thursday 27 May 2010, Samuel Thibault wrote: > > Because the question is "where?". The lilo approach is "inside the > > filesystem", which can break. The grub approach is "right after MBR", > > which needs room there. > > grub (legacy) can be installed in any partition. IIUC grub2 is limited to > being installed in the MBR. Due to the differing sizes, yes. Samuel -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-boot-REQUEST(a)lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster(a)lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20100527001659.GL4628(a)const.famille.thibault.fr
From: Paul Vojta on 26 May 2010 21:10
In article <eNJN8-64S-21(a)gated-at.bofh.it>, Ferenc Wagner <wferi(a)niif.hu> wrote: > >Sorry, I don't trust in the future of LILO myself. If there's anything >which only LILO can do, I recommend you start complaining on the >Syslinux and the Grub mailing lists. I suppose it will be heard. Does either grub2 or syslinux allow for single-key booting? (For example, if in lilo.conf I have the command "single-key" near the beginning of the file, "alias=w" in the stanza for Windows, and no labels begin with w or W, then at boot time the single key "w" will cause lilo to start booting Windows.) --Paul Vojta, vojta(a)math.berkeley.edu -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-devel-REQUEST(a)lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster(a)lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/htkfei$3rs$1(a)news.eternal-september.org |