AFAIK Netwinder doesn't chainload, except maybe for the nvram. There is 1MB nvram where a minikernel usually is placed, it seems to be like a binary disk image, but I am not sure.
Possibly I could simulate a floppy using the loop device, somehow place grub on it, dd it into a file, and load that into the nvram, but that would be pretty risky, as I could forever lose my only boot loader. The Netwinder doesn't boot like a normal PC as it was designed exclusively to run Linux. Like I said, Netwinder nettrom can boot a kernel file from an ext2 partition, so if the grub shell could be linked with OSKit's linuxboot compatibility, it would effectively be like chainloading it ( I think ), and that way I don't have to risk screwing up my nvram. Besides the nettrom/BIOS is a very nice piece of work and is worth keeping if at all possible. Netwinder isn't capable of booting Hurd because it has no way to load the extra modules after the kernel, hence the need for a grub minikernel. However, the machine itself is very similar to a DEC Shark, which has some OSKit support. Port Grub to arm... yep that's a good start. I'll try it and see how rough it looks. - Doug Niels M�ller wrote: >"B. Douglas Hilton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >>Except, Netwinder's nettrom seems only able >>to boot a linux kernel. No multiboot capability >>that I am aware of. >> >I don't really know all this boot-time magic, but my guess is that you >need to > >1. Port Grub to ARM. Adding support for multiple platforms and > multiple cpu:s to Grub will be an interesting and useful thing to > do, but perhaps non-trivial. Personally, I'd like to see a Grub > port to sparc, reusing some of the SILO assembler code, but I don't > have the time (and perhaps not the skill either) for that. > >2. Either replace the netwinders bootloader with the new ARM Grub, or > figure out some way to "chain load" Grub from the netwinder's own > bootloader. The later is *not* making Grub a "mini-kernel", it just > means fitting grub into a different booting sequence, in the same > place as the linux-kernel in the ordinary netwinder boot sequence. > >Regards, >/Niels > _______________________________________________ http://lists.arm.linux.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/linux-arm http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/armlinux/mailinglists.php Please visit the above addresses for information on this list.
