Re: extipl, mbr--why? (was: GRUB)
On Thu, Sep 16, 1999 at 02:07:33AM +0900, Taketoshi Sano wrote: > In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Philip Hands) writes: > > Andrew Pimlott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > (snip) > > > May I ask what the point of these enhanced mbr's is, since all of these > > > features are available from the boot loader (eg LILO)? > > Maybe you are so clever that you can easily understand how to fiddle > that lilo.conf, but there are many people who can not find proper settings > of lilo for their needs. Right, they should be automatically added by a config tool. > And LILO require the files (at least the 2nd loader and map file) on > different place than the MBR (Master Boot Record). you can boot from > alternate partitions by your setup, but if you remove the partition > which includes the required files (2nd loader and kernel map) and > overwrite on them, the rest partition would not work for you. > > By putting the current "mbr" or alternate "extipl" on MBR, you can > select partitions by solely using the code in MBR (just 446bytes). > And you can set lilo in each partitions boot sector, this is more > easy configuration than having multiple partition setup in single > lilo.conf for many beginners. These are good reasons, thanks. > > > What was the rationale for adding mbr to the default configuration? > > > To stop the annoying FAQ: Of course--I didn't mean to put LILO on the mbr. That's practically begging Redmond for trouble! Andrew
Re: extipl, mbr--why? (was: GRUB)
Hi. In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Philip Hands) writes: > Andrew Pimlott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: (snip) > > May I ask what the point of these enhanced mbr's is, since all of these > > features are available from the boot loader (eg LILO)? I've always had my > > LILO configured to boot from the floppy and alternate partitions, and this > > would be fairly easy to add to the default lilo.conf for beginners. Maybe you are so clever that you can easily understand how to fiddle that lilo.conf, but there are many people who can not find proper settings of lilo for their needs. (So both of how-to and FAQ about lilo is distributed additional to the very detailed documents of lilo itself) And LILO require the files (at least the 2nd loader and map file) on different place than the MBR (Master Boot Record). you can boot from alternate partitions by your setup, but if you remove the partition which includes the required files (2nd loader and kernel map) and overwrite on them, the rest partition would not work for you. By putting the current "mbr" or alternate "extipl" on MBR, you can select partitions by solely using the code in MBR (just 446bytes). And you can set lilo in each partitions boot sector, this is more easy configuration than having multiple partition setup in single lilo.conf for many beginners. > > No beginner understands what those funny letters that mbr prints mean > > anyway, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets annoyed when they pop up > > because I'm holding down shift to get the LILO prompt. Why don't you put "delay=30" or "delay=20" in your lilo.conf ? It makes more easy to catch the LILO prompt for you. > > What was the rationale for adding mbr to the default configuration? > To stop the annoying FAQ: Yes. Philip knows the begginers. These FAQ is very frequently up even these days, or much more since more and more people begin to use Linux and LILO. I think Debian's current configuration to use it's "mbr" package is reasonable. (Well, if I don't think so, I would not make the package of extipl :) just FYI. -- Taketoshi Sano: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Re: extipl, mbr--why? (was: GRUB)
On Wed, Sep 15, 1999 at 10:34:24AM +0100, Philip Hands wrote: > To stop the annoying FAQ: > -- > Subject: ARRGGH!!! HOW DO I GET RID OF LINUS! Who wants to do that ? You're silly. Gregor pgpEuV2qYtWHB.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: extipl, mbr--why? (was: GRUB)
Andrew Pimlott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Thu, Sep 09, 1999 at 01:22:33PM +0900, Taketoshi Sano wrote: > > btw, anyone tried my "extipl" package for potato ? I think it is > > superior than current i386 "mbr" on features that it can boot up > > the system on the other hard disk (if the OS in that place can do, i.e. > > the MS-xxx can not work. and the default is limited to the first disk) > > can change default boot partition on the first disk at booting time, > > and can show the some information about the partitions on the disks at > > booting time. > > May I ask what the point of these enhanced mbr's is, since all of these > features are available from the boot loader (eg LILO)? I've always had my > LILO configured to boot from the floppy and alternate partitions, and this > would be fairly easy to add to the default lilo.conf for beginners. > > No beginner understands what those funny letters that mbr prints mean > anyway, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets annoyed when they pop up > because I'm holding down shift to get the LILO prompt. > > What was the rationale for adding mbr to the default configuration? To stop the annoying FAQ: -- Subject: ARRGGH!!! HOW DO I GET RID OF LINUS! I've formated my disk five time and still it says: LILO Loading Linux and locks up. I HATE YOU ALL -- This happens if you put lilo on the disk's MBR. If you mean why don't we just leave the default MBR alone, and put lilo on the partition that's marked as bootable, well the default doesn't let you choose an alternate boot partition. More importantly, the default doesn't let you tell the BIOS to boot off of the hard disk, while preserving your ability to boot from floppy when required. Why's this important ? Because it mostly sidesteps boot sector viruses (if you care about that sort of thing), and it means that people can inadvertently leave floppies in servers without stopping them from rebooting if the power fails. Cheers, Phil.
