Grub

http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.debian.user/298984/

(Compilation note, message edited to fix the problem and hide the question)

I put stage2_eltorito and menu.lst in boot/grub, and build the boot CD with

The CD boots ok, the menu loaded fine, and every entry boots fine as well.

My grub is:

xpt

Compiled from

A summary of the procedure:

documented on: 2008-02-17

documented on: 2007-08-11

Hi Michael

Browsing the mlist archive, I know you are a strong believer of lilo, and don't like Grub. I can totally understand that.

I remember I gave up several attempts trying to switch from lilo to grub — to me it was the grub's unintuitive syntax. But once I learned it and understand the beauty of grub I never use lilo again. Hope you find the same way too. If you'd like to give it a try, I'd be glad to be of any help. All that get me started was a very good tutorial article…

Though it might be hopeless, let me try to show you that grub might be helpful (one more time).

On Sat, 01 Jul 2006 11:32:51 -0400, T wrote:

When I first tried it, my box wouldn't boot because to the layout difference of /boot between KNOPPIX and GRML.

But thanks to grub's interactive debug capability, the problem was solved within seconds. Had I was using lilo, it'd take me several boots to solve the problem.

Second, from the author of "Poor man's install, grub and ntfs" :

"…boot using grub instead of isolinux (can be used for repairs/diagnostics). morphix and kanotix are both using a cute graphic grub menu, which gives easy access to various knoppix cheatcodes, documentation etc. "

He's done that to knoppix. http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/User:Ml#grub_gfx_boot

just my 2c.

xpt

http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=150078

I wrote this thread because someone asked if it is possible in another forum. I think it can be done and so I documented it in JustLinux.

Among about 95% of Linux iso meant to be booted from a CD or DVD will have the de facto boot loader called isolinux, written by Peter Anvin. It has a configuration file called isolinux.cfg. The isolinux syntax is very similar to Grub and so one can substitute isolinux with Grub.

Isolinux can also multi-boots. I am just more comfortable with grub and know it can deliver what I want. Grub is preferred because we can communicate with Grub during boot time and correct any mistake as we go along. That is very useful with a read-only DVD. Isolinux does not offer this flexibility.

Grub has only one file for booting a CD or DVD. This file is called stage2_eltorito available in every Linux that has Grub. It is stored in /boot/grub or /grub directory. The Grub Manual has steps showing how to create a CD or DVD booted by stage2_eltorito. http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html#Making-a-GRUB-bootable-CD_002dROM

This is just a big folder for storing several iso files. The iso files have to be expanded first into the normal format first. I use an existing directory in /abit ,rounded up 7 iso files and created the following subdirectories

for 7 distros of Damn Small Linux, Slax, Mepis, Grafpuppy, Ubunu, Parted Magic and SystemrescueCD. Their version numbers are stated in the menu.lst below.

I use "-boot" for the folder names because some distros may have their own folders using the distro own names, for example slax and pmagic.

I wrote a script called mountiso to execute the two lines of commands

This allows me to mount any iso file by bash command, say for iso slax-6.0.0-rc5.iso

The Slax iso when expanded shows two directories of /boot and /slax inside. I can then copy the expanded iso file in /mnt/cdrom into the folder I created in Step-1

I have to repeat Step-2 for each iso file.

The folder /abit/iso will be eventually a DVD iso and so to make it bootable by Grub we must have

I was using an installed Ubuntu 7.04 to do the above work and so Ubuntu's /boot/grub has all the information I need. Therefore all I need to do is to copy the content of Ubuntu's /boot/grub directory into /abit/iso after creating the directories there first

at this stage all the Grub files will be available as shown below

This is by far the most difficult thing to explain. I shall only do it by example. Slax in the above is the perfect system for this type of illustration. The above information shows it has two directories of "/slax" and "/boot" so the first thing I have to do is to move the /slax directory from /abit/iso/slax-boot to /abit/iso, leaving only the /boot there for reference only. This is because when the DVD is booted the installer has been written to search only the root directory whereas the /boot directory is the one I can control by telling Grub where to find it. I can't put /boot in the root directory because many distros have /boot too.

I now show how to get the isolinux.cfg by repeating just the "ls" command going into deeper level each time.

The part of the isolinux.cfg that is of interest to me has only two lines I have highlighted in red

I now show the end result of the Grub menu, which must be stored as /abit/iso/boot/grub/menu.lst, and the red is the conversion.

You will see I have only changed "KERNEL" with "kernel" and correctly located the where about of the kernel "vmlinuz" to be found in directory /slax-boot/boot. Remember after you have brun the DVD iso the /abit/iso front end will disappear.

The isolinux specifies the ram disk file as a parameter of the KERNEL statement with "initrd=/boot/initrd.gz" forming part of the command structure. In Grub I have separated it into a proper "initrd" statement. That is all I needed to change an iso booting with isolinux to booting with Grub. I do not touch other parameters at all.

To summarize the step of converting an iso booting from isolinux to Grub the steps are

I could have just done two iso to make the thread shorter but decided to put 7 iso files in because there are 6 examples showing how isolinux can be converted to Grub. One of the 7 has Grub already and I have shown how we could modify it too to multi-boot. The isolinux information is left at the rear of the thread in case any reader may find more information useful.

This has to be the easiest thing in life for creating your own bootable DVD. Just follow the steps outlined in the Chapter 3.4 of Grub Manual. http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/html_node/Making-a-GRUB-bootable-CD_002dROM.html#Making-a-GRUB-bootable-CD_002dROM

I wrote a script call makeiso just to do just that

I issue the makeiso command in directory /abit. The end product of the about command is a large iso file call grub.iso

To burn the grub.iso I just called up K3B and clicked the file name. The DVD, with 1.8 Gb from the 7 distros, was ready in 6 minutes. I used a re-writeable DVD.

Conclusion : I now have a DVD that boots 7 distros successfully.

The above information is also useful/sufficient for any user wanting to create his/her customized bootable CD/DVD

The following information are included just for the reference purpose only.

For completeness I enclose the relevant parts of the isolinux.cfg from the other distros below. The menu.lst I wrote is already given at the above.

DSL's isolinux.cfg is in /boot/isolinux directory. Its "KNOPPIX" directory should be available in the / directory

Grafpuppy isolinux.cfg is in / directory…..

Lastly the complete content of my /abit/iso (before turning into the iso), looks like this….

Last edited by saikee : 2007-08-07

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/engine?do=post_view_flat;post=8474;page=1;mh=-1;list=syslinux;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC

To further isolate the problem I took slax-6.0.0-rc5.iso - which is one of those two that produce the boot stall under investigation - and replaced the isolinux boot machinery on this disk by the following minimal grub files:

The line

built a perfectly bootable iso file!

May I conclude that isolinux.bin (several tested versions up to the newest) in combination with a linux-2.6.21.5 kernel from the Slax distribution (Slax 6 RC4/RC5) produces _on some hardware (mine)_ a boot stall. The other bootloader succeeds on the same hardware.

"Ready." is indeed the point at which we transfer control to the kernel setup code. It might be interesting to put "vga=ask" on the kernel command line; that should give you some interaction with the kernel setup code, which runs in real mode before the kernel is decompressed. That will help narrow down the problem.

-hpa

Tomas M wrote:

"Uncompressing kernel…" comes from the kernel decompressor, which is the second of three stages embedded in the kernel image.

-hpa

I needed some time and changed the options of the mkisofs invocation in Tomas' make_iso.sh script, leaving all other factors the same, especially I always reburnt with K3B the same brand (Sony) of CD:

and inserted option -sort slsort into the above command.

To my opinion this should place the boot machinery contiguous to the beginning of the track - no boot.

I am now on the edge giving up with this problem. The most probable cause may be not finding the drive/file in stage 2 for uncompressing. But I ran out of creative ideas. Perhaps tomorrow I try as a last resort a hardware change: swapping Master and Slave on IDE bus. Maybe this has some effect on an eventually buggy BIOS.

Peter

Gentlemen: I have extensive experience using ISOLINUX and all rec versions of Slax (incl Slax-6-RC5) and have never had a single "phantom" problem w/ the pair. In fact, I just made my 1st RC5 disc on Fri and it worked flawlessly, as expected.

When things don't work, they're usu attributable to a couple of things:

I've made literally dozens of bootable CDs/DVDs using ISOLINUX as the sole bootloader, in the past year and most incorporate Slax 5 or 6. I've even started a discussion forum on the subj called Super-Disc: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=94398

In theory, this issue could represent the emergence of a new BIOS incompatibility, but one mite consider these factors first.

mr-roboto at linuxmail

1) 2) 3) were always fullfilled.

Sorry, not really …

If you had followed the whole discussion, you would know:

These really time consuming tests led to the conclusion that the problem is determined by three conditions:

If one or more of these conditions are not met, the CD boots.

Please be assured that I've really no intent to prove something against ISOLINUX or Slax. I made clear that the Grub test only served as a test that the problem also depends on ISOLINUX somehow.

If computers work somehow deterministically, there should be a cause for the problem. I would really like to find it.

Peter

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/f/topic-3-17-11728-0.html

i was very pleased with the "usb boot floppy" image. maybe too pleased.

i downloaded the floppy image; rawrote it to floppy; plugged in new usb pendrive loaded with NON-bootable DSL files; booted from floppy and PRESTO — FIRST TIME — DSL came up. Nice. now i want more. much more.

my poor old computer can not boot directly from usb. it can boot directly from cd. and of course from floppy as mentioned.

floppy too slow. cd too inconvenient. "inconvenient" because you folks too productive — new dal extensions; new base version all the time. nuisance burning new cd every week. even more vexing: want to try different boot options - maybe scsi from friend; maybe this; maybe that; want to change boot config options every other day. want to stop burning cds.

my solution: make bootable cd but not DSL. CD boots using floppy emulation from Freedos floppy. CD has DOS script — autoexec — which executes GRUB FOR DOS. GRUB FOR DOS has memdrive feature which theoretically can load and start your usb-boot-bloppy image {{straight off the cd you see. faster than simple floppy boot. is this confusing??}} HOWEVER i want my GRUB boot options config file on back on a floppy so it can be changed easily. GRUB can do this. SYSLINUX cannot. GRUB command for "remote" boot options file on floppy is…

PROBLEM In the config file on the floppy you are supposed to write commands like

GRUB then sez it cannot find file linux24! Even tho it just booted from the 7^&(((** CD! What to do?

i REFUSE to use your boot floppy as manufactured. too slow. worse, i want to load ONE floppy with ALL NECESSITIES — LIKE ALL SAVED Opera bookmarks. My weird CD has pause in script to prompt insertion of floppy for GRUB config file during boot… that works, ie GRUB finds config file & displays my GRUB boot options — like boot DSL in USB; boot RIP Linux on CD; GEEXBOX on CD; etc but none of the options work ]]Does GRUB support your CDROM drive?

Also, is the file located at

or is it at

or somwhere else?

If your CD is a standard ATAPI internal CDROM drive for a desktop computer, I would hope that GRUB could support it.

Otherwise, you may be able to install the CDROM extensions to the FreeDOS disk and then use loadlin to load the files from D:\ drive (or whatever drive letter is assigned to your CDROM).

http://www.msfn.org/board/Multiple_Partition_USB_Stick_Multi_Boo_t69211.html#entry505946

SPLASHIMAGE

GRUB allows using a splashimage, sort of a background. Here are the NEEDED features of the slashimage:

The Windows 32 port of the Gimp saves in a .xpm format that is NOT compatible with GRUB. http://www.gimp.org/windows/ You will need the Windows 32 port of ImageMagick. http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php

Draw your image in your preferred graphic program, save it as .BMP with a 14 colours palette (if your graphic program does not allow this, use the Gimp to open the .BMP, limit the palette to 14 colours and save it again as .BMP).

Now open a command prompt window, navigate to your ImageMagick install directory and give this command:

Preview the result with the Gimp, check that colours are really limited to 14, DO NOT save the image with the Gimp!

If result is OK, re-run as follows:

(or you can use 7zip to gzip the image previously made)

Please note that it is important to do the above because if you try to use, as you should theoretically:

starting from a, say, 256 colours image, the palette will NOT be optimized and result will be VERY POOR.

After having tested that the image works with GRUB, you should spend sometime experimenting with the two settings:

These are coded colours (RGB, same as used in HTML) that apply to the TEXT superimposed by GRUB (normal/highlighted).

Since I am a very bad "painter", I have found that a quick way to get acceptable results is to start from a 16 colours 640x480 image, they used to be backgrounds for Windows 3.1 and can be found quite easily on the internet.

jaclaz

documented on: May 12 2006

i got splashimage touring the web. i got it from the linux community like kde or gentoo if i can remember right. some here grub splash screens

http://schragehome.de/splash/ http://www.schultz-net.dk/grub.html

if your using linux heres a easy way to convert a image to grub format. it easy it just like the same way for cdshell. you cant get above 14 colours, it uses some form of vesa. it easy to convert a image to 640x480 you need gzip and

imagemagick http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php and gimp http://www.gimp.org/

Quoted

For some reasons i could not create *.xpm so i save it as *.png and then

(convert is a part of media-gfx/imagemagick)

You can save image from this page and convert it skipping image creation hassle

Creating image (Imagemagick)

Installing the Image

This post has been edited by Markymoo: May 17 2006.