Re: Loadlin and Squeeze kernel 2.6.32
On Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:31:36 -0400, Tom H wrote:
> On Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 9:26 AM, Camaleón <noelamac@gmail.com> wrote:
(...)
>>>> AFAIK this calls for block list based installation of GRUB 2 which is
>>>> not recommended cause it introduces the same issues than map file in
>>>> LILO.
>>
>> I don't know what you mean here. Installing GRUB in the first sector of
>> a partition instead the MBR has been always possible (also documented)
>> and nothing to be avoided "per se". Can you expand this?
>
> When you install grub1/grub2 to a PBR, you cannot embed stage
> 1.5/core.img in the gap between the first sector and the start of a
> partition as you would do when you install grub1/grub2 to an MBR. The
> stage 1/boot.img then has to use block lists to load stage 2/core.img.
And what are the drawbacks for that?
Reading from GRUB's legacy documentation¹, I see none listed. However,
GRUB2 manual² does not even mention the possibility of installing GRUB2
into the first boot sector of a partition, maybe something has changed
between the two versions :-?
>>> Cameleon: You can choose to install grub2 to a PBR by refusing to
>>> install it to the MBR. d-i'll prompt you to provide a device - and it
>>> accepts a partition.
>>
>> Yes, I know.
>>
>> But AFAICT, installing nothing in the MBR (e.g., from a low level
>> formatted hard disk) is not the same than having "generic boot code"
>> here.
>
> I've never heard of "generic boot code". I don't see why SUSE uses it;
> it must be unnecessary since none of the other distributions that I've
> used use it.
>
> Are you sure about the "generic boot code"?
Yes :-)
I've been installing several (open)SUSEs since many years and this option
has been always there. Let me search to grab some docs... okay, here it
is³ the official paper. The option comes from the installer, when you
first select to install GRUB you can then cherry pick some advanced
options like the usuals (set bootable flag, etc...) and this one:
***
Write Generic Boot Code to MBR
Replaces the current MBR with generic, operating system independent code.
***
Why this option? I can't tell and I don't know (because I have not directly
tested) if there's any difference between choosing this and installing no
bootloader at all. To be sincere, I don't know if by selecting no bootloader
you can boot at all, I mean, directly from your hard disk with no other helpers
:-?
¹http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Installing-GRUB-natively
²http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html#Installing-GRUB-using-grub_002dinstall
³http://doc.opensuse.org/documentation/html/openSUSE/opensuse-reference/cha.grub.html#sec.boot.yast2.config.advanced
Greetings,
--
Camaleón
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