Bug#731709: grub-efi UEFI support based on debian-cd work complete (repos)

[Michal Suchanek <hramrach@gmail.com>]

Hello,

thanks for working on this.

On 18 January 2016 at 05:24, adrian15 <adrian15sgd@gmail.com> wrote:
> In my last message I forgot to CC many people who are involved in this bug
> so I'm going to refer to my former message, CC some people and finally point
> you to my repo/branches where you might find interesting commits.
>
>
> 1) My original message with attached patches (which you can download to your
> email program and reply from there) can be found at:
>
> https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=731709#153
>
>
> 2) Repo / Branches:
>
> * efi_support_based_on_debian_cd  (
> https://github.com/adrian15/live-build/tree/efi_support_based_on_debian_cd )
> : Original dirty branch where I worked in both syslinux-efi and grub-efi
> bootloaders at the same time
>
> * efi_support_based_on_debian_cd_rebased (
> https://github.com/adrian15/live-build/tree/efi_support_based_on_debian_cd_rebased
> ) : The same branch rebased to have minimal useful commits. syslinux-efi was
> removed from it because it did not boot.

I have checked what EFI platforms I have and it seems neither would be
bootable with this.

1) a Windows tablet that needs signed bootloader - signed grub is
available as non-free package (because it cannot be modified to not
break the signature) and presumably allows booting on such systems
without going through the unlocking stuff which may break your windows
installation.

2) a mac mini which probably needs a GPT and the bootloader stored on
a HFS+ volume or something. Also the bootloader needs to be 'blessed'.
Command for that exists in grub and crashes. Never got this working on
an USB stick.

As to the primary and secondary bootloader - how is the efi bootloader
secondary? It boots the same as the legacy bootloader. You probably
want a concept of compatible bootloaders - that is pairs of
bootloaders that can be installed alongside on the same medium. Unless
the user requests two bootloaders that are incompatible the medium can
be created.

Ignoring bootloaders is not a good idea. If the user requested
something that is not possible the build should report an error and
stop.

Finally it seems that some of the patches reference grub-efi before
the patch that adds support for it. Support for grub-efi should
probably be added before it's referenced in other code (eg set as
default).

Thanks

Michal