Re: Loadlin and Squeeze kernel 2.6.32
On Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 11:41 AM, Stephen Powell <zlinuxman@wowway.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 14 Jul 2012 19:11:41 -0400 (EDT), Tom H wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for the info and the links. You've misunderstood me. I didn't
>> say that Linux could boot without a bootloader. I said that I didn't
>> understand the purpose of the "Generic Boot Code" since other
>> distributions don't use it when installing grub to a PBR.
>
> I realize that your remarks above are directed to Camaleón, but some
> kind of boot code has to be in the Master Boot Record (MBR). Otherwise,
> the BIOS cannot boot from the hard disk. If you install GRUB2 (or any
> other boot loader for that matter) to a Volume Boot Record, then
> some kind of generic boot code, boot code which chain loads whichever
> partition is marked active, must be installed in the Master Boot Record.
> Either other distributions install such boot code without asking, or
> they either assume or verify that such boot code is already there.
>
> For example, an install of Linux on a hard disk that already has Windows
> (and only Windows) installed on it would not need to install "generic
> boot code", since it is already there by means of Windows. On the other
> hand, if you have a hard disk that has been wiped clean by DBAN, or
> something similar, then there is no generic boot code in the MBR.
> If you have previously installed a Linux boot loader to the hard disk's
> MBR, then you probably need to install generic boot code in the MBR
> to wipe out whatever boot loader used to be there if you now want
> to install GRUB2 (or any other Linux boot loader) to a VBR.
Very true. I should've known better given that I was bitten by this
(or bit myself!) when installing Debian or Ubuntu in the past using
debootstrap, installed grub to a PBR/VBR, and had to chroot to fix the
MBR. Apologies...
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