Grub vs. linux-image-2.6.32 conundrum

[Stephen Powell <zlinuxman@wowway.com>]

On Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:30:05 -0400 (EDT), Peter E. wrote:
> 
> Good of you to give the explanation and instructions 
> in msg02584.html.  My only remaining concern is that, 
> with this being unfamiliar territory with several 
> parameters to be adjusted, there appears to be a 
> non-trivial risk of a small error leaving the system 
> unbootable again.
>

Here is a link to an online version of the man page for kernel-img.conf
that appears to be close to the available options supported by the
maintainer scripts for *official stock Debian kernel image
packages* under Squeeze/Sid.  Note that many of these options no
longer work for *kernel image packages created by make-kpkg* under
Squeeze/Sid.  I cannot guarantee its accuracy.  For example,
I don't know if "do_bootfloppy = yes" still works.  I haven't tried
it.

   http://www.wlug.org.nz/kernel-img.conf%285%29

To create an environment that works for both kinds of kernel image
packages, I recommend that you customize /etc/kernel-img.conf as
outlined in the other thread *and* create the hook script environment
outlined in the web page mentioned in the other thread.  The hook
scripts seem to be necessary at the moment in order for lilo to get
run during the installation of a new kernel image package.  Whether
that is a bug (unintended) or a feature (intended) I am not sure.
But if you customize /etc/kernel-img.conf as recommended *and* set
up the hook scripts as recommended, all your bases will be covered.

As I see it, this whole problem started when the Debian kernel team
decided to stop using kernel-package to create official Debian stock
kernel images and started using other tools, which were initially
based on kernel-package scripts, of course.  Over time, they have
slowly drifted apart, yet both groups of maintainer scripts still use
/etc/kernel-img.conf as a configuration file.  In other words, this
is not a lilo-specific problem: this is a general kernel image
maintainer script problem.  To further muddy the waters, kernel upstream
now offers a "make deb-pkg" option to create a Debian package directly
from the kernel source package, without going through any Debian-specific
tools.  I have never used it.  I have no idea if it uses
/etc/kernel-img.conf, or if so, what options it supports.
What a mess we have here!

-- 
  .''`.     Stephen Powell    <zlinuxman@wowway.com>
 : :'  :
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