Bug#502446: debian-installer: grub-installer is not updated for grub-pc introduction
Hi,
On Sat, Nov 15, 2008 at 12:26:43PM +0100, Robert Millan wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Otavio asked me to comment on this.
>
> Notice that I maintain grub/grub2, not grub-installer. In fact, my
> recommendations as grub maintainer are often dismissed here, so take
> this with a grain of salt.
Thanks.
> On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 11:41:22PM +0900, Osamu Aoki wrote:
> >
> > But if you do, you must take care critical diffrences of these 2
> > programs.
> >
> > For /dev/hda3, grub legacy used (hd0,2) while grub 2 use (hd0,3).
> >
> > The template file in grub-installer needed to be updated not to mislead
> > users. Template: grub-installer/bootdev needs to be updated
> > "(hd0,1)" --> "(hd0,2)"
> > "(hd2,4)" --> "(hd2,5)"
> > as:
>
> It's not critical, and I don't think it's worth it. It just affects a template
> description, and this particular problem is hopefully going away post-Lenny as
> soon as GRUB Legacy is completely deprecated.
I agree it is not a critical bug since if grub-pc is installed to MBR
per default, this problem be will not be seen.
Problem is not just description inconsistency. If you chose to install
to (hd0,2) or /dev/hda3, grub-pc is currently installed to /dev/hda2
overwriting whatever is there. This was not something I appreciated.
It may kill some existig boot data. That is not so nice thing to do.
That is why I was concerned.
I wonder why we offer to install grub-pc to non-MBR locations in lenny.
For me, disabling that is an option. But fixing it is even nicer.
My patch is updated and factorized: http://people.debian.org/~osamu/
I now use Robert's fix as a part since I think that is better fix for
the problem.
My string updates covers all language. As far as lenny is concerned, we
are supporting GRUB Legacy and 2 for different case. Neglecting this
fact is not good for lenny. But I am not pushing this to delay release
nor pushing this for squeeze.
> #473401 OTOH has a real effect in end usability, and should be taken into
> consideration for Lenny.
I agree it is quite annoying. This has to be fixed more. I do not expect
users has to use interactive mode to edit grub menu. His patch makes
sense too.
> > The device can be specified using GRUB's "(hdn,m)" notation, or as a device
> > in /dev. Below are some examples:
> > - "(hd0)" or "/dev/hda" will install GRUB to the master boot record
> > of your first hard drive (IDE);
>
> This paragraph leads user to think there's a 1:1 correspondence between GRUB
> drives (which are enumerated by BIOS) and Linux devices (which are enumerated
> by Linux itself). However, it's really a game of gambling. E.g. "/dev/hda"
> is "(hd0)" _most of the time_, but not always.
I agree.
> This is something we already solved in GRUB 2 (by using UUIDs).
I wonder if GRUB2's /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober can be used from
grub-installer in squeeze. I guess chroot does not have apropriate
devices to get this script to produce right result.
Osamu
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