Re: Loadlin and Squeeze kernel 2.6.32
On Sat, 14 Jul 2012 19:11:41 -0400, Tom H wrote:
> On Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 4:14 PM, Camaleón <noelamac@gmail.com> wrote:
(...)
>> 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 :-?
>
> Nothing's changed except that you have to use the "--force" option to
> install grub2 into a PBR. The drawback, according to grub, is that you
> have to use block lists rather than use an intermediate step (grub1's
> stage 1.5 or grub2's core.img) that understands filesystems.
Which, generally speaking, it translates into...? I mean, what are those
"block lists" and how are they effectively affecting the boot process
from a user's point of view?
On systems with multiple operating systems in the same hard disk I've
always found a more dangerous approach to install GRUB (or any other
bootloader) in the MBR that inside a partition because you completely
relay on the bootloder capabilities to boot all of the installed systems
and also the MBR could be always overwritten when you install a Windows
system.
(...)
>>> Are you sure about the "generic boot code"?
>>
>> Yes :-)
(...)
>> ***
>> 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 :-?
(...)
> Thanks for the info and the links. You've misunderstood me. I didn't say
> that Linux could boot without a bootloader. I said that I didn't
> understand the purpose of the "Generic Boot Code" since other
> distributions don't use it when installing grub to a PBR.
You're right.
Yes, what I should have say is that the difference between a) installing
GRUB into the first section of a partition or b) installing GRUB into the
first section of a partition *and* writing generic boot code to MBR is
unknown to me.
Why does openSUSE provide such option while others no and what kind of
changes generates? As I said, I don't know, maybe option a) writes
specific GRUB code into the MBR while option b) uses generic bootstrap
data. Differences between the two? That a) does not need the bootable
flag to be present while b) does? Who knows :-?
Greetings,
--
Camaleón
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