Re: extipl, mbr--why? (was: GRUB)
Andrew Pimlott <andrew@pimlott.ne.mediaone.net> writes:
> On Thu, Sep 09, 1999 at 01:22:33PM +0900, Taketoshi Sano wrote:
> > btw, anyone tried my "extipl" package for potato ? I think it is
> > superior than current i386 "mbr" on features that it can boot up
> > the system on the other hard disk (if the OS in that place can do, i.e.
> > the MS-xxx can not work. and the default is limited to the first disk)
> > can change default boot partition on the first disk at booting time,
> > and can show the some information about the partitions on the disks at
> > booting time.
>
> May I ask what the point of these enhanced mbr's is, since all of these
> features are available from the boot loader (eg LILO)? I've always had my
> LILO configured to boot from the floppy and alternate partitions, and this
> would be fairly easy to add to the default lilo.conf for beginners.
>
> No beginner understands what those funny letters that mbr prints mean
> anyway, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets annoyed when they pop up
> because I'm holding down shift to get the LILO prompt.
>
> What was the rationale for adding mbr to the default configuration?
To stop the annoying FAQ:
------
Subject: ARRGGH!!! HOW DO I GET RID OF LINUS!!!!!
I've formated my disk five time and still it says:
LILO
Loading Linux
and locks up. I HATE YOU ALL ....
------
This happens if you put lilo on the disk's MBR.
If you mean why don't we just leave the default MBR alone, and put
lilo on the partition that's marked as bootable, well the default
doesn't let you choose an alternate boot partition.
More importantly, the default doesn't let you tell the BIOS to boot
off of the hard disk, while preserving your ability to boot from
floppy when required. Why's this important ? Because it mostly
sidesteps boot sector viruses (if you care about that sort of thing),
and it means that people can inadvertently leave floppies in servers
without stopping them from rebooting if the power fails.
Cheers, Phil.
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