Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels [SOLVED]
On Monday 27 Jan 2014 16:04:44 I wrote:
On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 21:42:54 Peter Humphrey wrote:
On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 I wrote:
On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 20:13:58 Neil Bothwick wrote:
Uncomment this line in /etc/default/grub
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console
Thanks, but I'm using a manually written grub.cfg, so I need to find out
what that definition translates to. I'm searching now...
It was easier than I expected (I hope). I just had to add two lines to
grub.cfg:
terminal_input console
terminal_output console
Mike G had suggested gfxterm for terminal_output, so I just changed it and
added terminal_input. I'll test it next time I boot.
Nope. Now I'm back to @ signs in place of the border, with the text still at
the original size needing a magnifying glass (well, I do these days).
I had to remove the line insmod all_video from grub.cfg as well. Now I get the
good old-fashioned 80x24 line VGA console and I can read the list of boot
images.
For posterity, here's my /boot/grub/grub.cfg:
root=(hd0,msdos1)
timeout=10
default=0
fallback=3
color_normal=white/blue
color_highlight=black/light-gray
background_image /grub/splash.xpm.gz
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.25 {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.25-gentoo root=/dev/md5 net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.25, no X {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.25-gentoo root=/dev/md5 softlevel=no-x
net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.25, no network {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.25-gentoo root=/dev/md5 softlevel=no-net
net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.17 {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.17-gentoo root=/dev/md5 net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.17, no X {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.17-gentoo root=/dev/md5 softlevel=no-x
net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.17, no network {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.17-gentoo root=/dev/md5 softlevel=no-net
net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Memtest86+ {
linux16 /boot/memtest86plus/memtest86+-4.20.bin
}
menuentry Rescue System 3.10.7-r1 {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.7-r1-gentoo-rescue root=/dev/sda8
net.ifnames=0
}
--
Regards
Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
I do. Why, does it have its own info reader? Personally I've never had to bite the bullet and had to learn how to use info. Regards Peter I tried to learn info and never did well, always lost my place and had to hit q to get out. Reading the info file as plain text worked better. When I had Slackware with KDE 3.x, Konqueror had a good info reader, but I couldn't find my way in KDE after it went to 4.1. Best I can think of in the absence of KDE is pinfo. Why can't they get rid of info in favor of HTML, or even straight ASCII text? Tom
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On 28/01/2014 13:38, Thomas Mueller wrote: I do. Why, does it have its own info reader? Personally I've never had to bite the bullet and had to learn how to use info. Regards Peter I tried to learn info and never did well, always lost my place and had to hit q to get out. Reading the info file as plain text worked better. When I had Slackware with KDE 3.x, Konqueror had a good info reader, but I couldn't find my way in KDE after it went to 4.1. Best I can think of in the absence of KDE is pinfo. Why can't they get rid of info in favor of HTML, or even straight ASCII text? The GNU foundation will deprecate info files immediately after they stop insisting distros call themselves GNU\Linux. Ain't gonna happen, Stallman has a thing about info and won't let go. There's a plethora of tools and sites out there to deliver info in a browser and convert info-html. The two map really well as they are both hyperlinked presentation markup. You could even go so far as to auto-convert all info pages yourself at emerge time by hooking a custom script into portage's phase hooks. Then view it locally in a browser; the info in info pages is actually very good (far better than in man for gnu projects). -- Alan McKinnon alan.mckin...@gmail.com
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Tuesday 28 Jan 2014 14:26:43 Alan McKinnon wrote: You could even go so far as to auto-convert all info pages yourself at emerge time by hooking a custom script into portage's phase hooks. Then view it locally in a browser; the info in info pages is actually very good (far better than in man for gnu projects). Hey, what a good idea! Any volunteers? My coding days are 25 years in the past I'm afraid, including various assemblers and all the way up to - wait for it - FORTRAN 66! -- Regards Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On 28/01/2014 14:54, Peter Humphrey wrote: On Tuesday 28 Jan 2014 14:26:43 Alan McKinnon wrote: You could even go so far as to auto-convert all info pages yourself at emerge time by hooking a custom script into portage's phase hooks. Then view it locally in a browser; the info in info pages is actually very good (far better than in man for gnu projects). Hey, what a good idea! Any volunteers? My coding days are 25 years in the past I'm afraid, including various assemblers and all the way up to - wait for it - FORTRAN 66! Well, you beat me for sure. My earliest was BBC Basic... -- Alan McKinnon alan.mckin...@gmail.com
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: The variables you can set in here are documented in the info pages. Also, and much easier to read, in an HTML file downloaded from the grub site. Not if you use KDE :P -- Neil Bothwick Top Oxymorons Number 43: Genuine imitation signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: Uncomment this line in /etc/default/grub #GRUB_TERMINAL=console Thanks, but I'm using a manually written grub.cfg, so I need to find out what that definition translates to. I'm searching now... Just run grob-mkconfig with and without that set and diff the output. Apart from the actual menu entries, most of the grub configuration is done at the top of grub.cfg, so it is easy to modify this to suit your needs. Personally, I prefer to use grub-mkconfig combined with manually written entries in /etc/grub.d. -- Neil Bothwick Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math. signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Monday 27 Jan 2014 09:38:32 Neil Bothwick wrote: On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: The variables you can set in here are documented in the info pages. Also, and much easier to read, in an HTML file downloaded from the grub site. Not if you use KDE :P I do. Why, does it have its own info reader? Personally I've never had to bite the bullet and had to learn how to use info. -- Regards Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 21:42:54 Peter Humphrey wrote: On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 I wrote: On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 20:13:58 Neil Bothwick wrote: Uncomment this line in /etc/default/grub #GRUB_TERMINAL=console Thanks, but I'm using a manually written grub.cfg, so I need to find out what that definition translates to. I'm searching now... It was easier than I expected (I hope). I just had to add two lines to grub.cfg: terminal_input console terminal_output console Mike G had suggested gfxterm for terminal_output, so I just changed it and added terminal_input. I'll test it next time I boot. Nope. Now I'm back to @ signs in place of the border, with the text still at the original size needing a magnifying glass (well, I do these days). -- Regards Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On 27/01/2014 18:00, Peter Humphrey wrote: On Monday 27 Jan 2014 09:38:32 Neil Bothwick wrote: On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: The variables you can set in here are documented in the info pages. Also, and much easier to read, in an HTML file downloaded from the grub site. Not if you use KDE :P I do. Why, does it have its own info reader? Personally I've never had to bite the bullet and had to learn how to use info. yes, it's a standard kio part installed by kdebase-kioslaves. Entering info:// as a URL in konqueror gives a page with all info ages on the system listed. info:/some_info_page opens that one directly -- Alan McKinnon alan.mckin...@gmail.com
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Monday 27 Jan 2014 09:40:44 Neil Bothwick wrote: On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: Uncomment this line in /etc/default/grub #GRUB_TERMINAL=console Thanks, but I'm using a manually written grub.cfg, so I need to find out what that definition translates to. I'm searching now... Just run grob-mkconfig with and without that set and diff the output. Yes, that's what I did. Personally, I prefer to use grub-mkconfig combined with manually written entries in /etc/grub.d. Looks like I'll be doing the same. Meanwhile I've removed the X bit from grub2-mkfonfig to make sure I don't run it by accident. Yes, I know the next update will put it back again. Never mind. -- Regards Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Monday 27 Jan 2014 18:07:40 Alan McKinnon wrote: On 27/01/2014 18:00, Peter Humphrey wrote: On Monday 27 Jan 2014 09:38:32 Neil Bothwick wrote: On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: The variables you can set in here are documented in the info pages. Also, and much easier to read, in an HTML file downloaded from the grub site. Not if you use KDE :P I do. Why, does it have its own info reader? Personally I've never had to bite the bullet and had to learn how to use info. yes, it's a standard kio part installed by kdebase-kioslaves. Entering info:// as a URL in konqueror gives a page with all info ages on the system listed. info:/some_info_page opens that one directly That explains it then. I can't remember the last time I used Konqueror for anything. And of course, by the time I do want to I'll have forgotten what you said. :-) -- Regards Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sun, Jan 26, 2014 at 4:42 PM, Peter Humphrey pe...@prh.myzen.co.uk wrote: On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 I wrote: On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 20:13:58 Neil Bothwick wrote: Uncomment this line in /etc/default/grub #GRUB_TERMINAL=console Thanks, but I'm using a manually written grub.cfg, so I need to find out what that definition translates to. I'm searching now... It was easier than I expected (I hope). I just had to add two lines to grub.cfg: terminal_input console terminal_output console Mike G had suggested gfxterm for terminal_output, so I just changed it and added terminal_input. I'll test it next time I boot. Thanks again Neil. Yeah, both of those settings default to console, so you should be able to just comment/remove them. I only suggested gfxterm because you had a background image in your original config for grub legacy. I'm not sure if that will work from the VGA text console.
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On 27/01/2014 18:19, Peter Humphrey wrote: On Monday 27 Jan 2014 18:07:40 Alan McKinnon wrote: On 27/01/2014 18:00, Peter Humphrey wrote: On Monday 27 Jan 2014 09:38:32 Neil Bothwick wrote: On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: The variables you can set in here are documented in the info pages. Also, and much easier to read, in an HTML file downloaded from the grub site. Not if you use KDE :P I do. Why, does it have its own info reader? Personally I've never had to bite the bullet and had to learn how to use info. yes, it's a standard kio part installed by kdebase-kioslaves. Entering info:// as a URL in konqueror gives a page with all info ages on the system listed. info:/some_info_page opens that one directly That explains it then. I can't remember the last time I used Konqueror for anything. And of course, by the time I do want to I'll have forgotten what you said. :-) And teh google will find an on-line version for you faster than both of those things combined :-) -- Alan McKinnon alan.mckin...@gmail.com
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Mon, 27 Jan 2014 16:19:53 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: Entering info:// as a URL in konqueror gives a page with all info ages on the system listed. info:/some_info_page opens that one directly That explains it then. I can't remember the last time I used Konqueror for anything. And of course, by the time I do want to I'll have forgotten what you said. :-) You can do it in Krunner too alt-F2 followed by info:/grub2, man:/grub2 or #grub2 Info pages work a lot better when converted to HTML, they actually become intuitive to use. -- Neil Bothwick Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have. signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:42:21 -0500, Mike Gilbert wrote: I have heard good things about extlinux. http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php/EXTLINUX Ah yes, the bootloader for people that hate reading docs. I battled with syslinux n DVDs for quite a while, but ended up switching to using GRUB2 to boot them. If is different from legacy GRUB, but not that different and, as you mentioned elsewhere, it is pretty well documented. -- Neil Bothwick Run with scissors. Remove mattress tags. Top post. Be a rebel. signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Saturday 25 Jan 2014 12:22:27 Mike Gilbert wrote: grub2 is able to load any font you like; you just need to convert it to pf2 format using the grub-mkfont utility. You may need to enable the truetype use flag to get that installed. By default, it provides a font called unifont, which is a little ugly but has very good unicode coverage. You can load it by adding this to your grub.cfg: loadfont unicode Yes, that does enable all the line-drawing characters to be displayed properly; now all I need to do is make grub use the plain old 80x25 line display instead of the frame buffer. Thanks again Mike. -- Regards Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 20:08:49 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: Yes, that does enable all the line-drawing characters to be displayed properly; now all I need to do is make grub use the plain old 80x25 line display instead of the frame buffer. Uncomment this line in /etc/default/grub #GRUB_TERMINAL=console The variables you can set in here are documented in the info pages. -- Neil Bothwick In 1750 Issac Newton became discouraged when he fell up a flight of stairs. signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 20:13:58 Neil Bothwick wrote: On Sun, 26 Jan 2014 20:08:49 +, Peter Humphrey wrote: Yes, that does enable all the line-drawing characters to be displayed properly; now all I need to do is make grub use the plain old 80x25 line display instead of the frame buffer. Uncomment this line in /etc/default/grub #GRUB_TERMINAL=console Thanks, but I'm using a manually written grub.cfg, so I need to find out what that definition translates to. I'm searching now... The variables you can set in here are documented in the info pages. Also, and much easier to read, in an HTML file downloaded from the grub site. -- Regards Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 21:28:55 I wrote: On Sunday 26 Jan 2014 20:13:58 Neil Bothwick wrote: Uncomment this line in /etc/default/grub #GRUB_TERMINAL=console Thanks, but I'm using a manually written grub.cfg, so I need to find out what that definition translates to. I'm searching now... It was easier than I expected (I hope). I just had to add two lines to grub.cfg: terminal_input console terminal_output console Mike G had suggested gfxterm for terminal_output, so I just changed it and added terminal_input. I'll test it next time I boot. Thanks again Neil. -- Regards Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On 2014-01-25 7:18 AM, Peter Humphrey pe...@prh.myzen.co.uk wrote: I've been operating this way for years and maintained the kernel versions manually. That was not a lot of work, with the help of some elementary bash- ing and copypasting, and I don't want the flexibility of boot options thrown away by switching to a supposedly better grub. Any ideas anyone? [1]https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2_Migration Like you, I've always done this manually, and in fact I prefer it that way. Personally, if/when I take the plunge, I'll just continue to do it manually with Grub2: https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2_Quick_Start#Manual_Configuration
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
Tanstaafl tansta...@libertytrek.org wrote: On 2014-01-25 7:18 AM, Peter Humphrey pe...@prh.myzen.co.uk wrote: I've been operating this way for years and maintained the kernel versions manually. That was not a lot of work, with the help of some elementary bash- ing and copypasting, and I don't want the flexibility of boot options thrown away by switching to a supposedly better grub. Any ideas anyone? [1]https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2_Migration Like you, I've always done this manually, and in fact I prefer it that way. Personally, if/when I take the plunge, I'll just continue to do it manually with Grub2: https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/GRUB2_Quick_Start#Manual_Configuration Is there a more comprehensive howto on how to convert grub legacy to grub2? I use xen and initramfs. And the options in grub legacy don't work with grub2. Many thanks, Joost -- Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 7:18 AM, Peter Humphrey pe...@prh.myzen.co.uk wrote:
Any ideas anyone?
Here's a manually written grub.cfg that should do pretty much what
your old menu.lst did.
root=(hd0,msdos1)
timeout=10
default=0
fallback=3
color_normal=white/blue
color_highlight=black/light-gray
insmod all_video
terminal_output gfxterm
background_image /grub/splash.xpm.gz
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.25 {
linux /boot/linux-x86_64-3.10.25-gentoo root=/dev/md5 net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.25, no X {
linux /boot/linux-x86_64-3.10.25-gentoo root=/dev/md5 softlevel=no-x
net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.25, no network {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.25-gentoo root=/dev/md5
softlevel=no-net net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.17 {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.17-gentoo root=/dev/md5 net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.17, no X {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.17-gentoo root=/dev/md5 softlevel=no-x
net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Gentoo Linux 3.10.17, no network {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.17-gentoo root=/dev/md5
softlevel=no-net net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Memtest86+ {
linux16 /boot/memtest86plus/memtest86+-4.20.bin
}
menuentry Rescue System 3.8.13 {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.8.13-gentoo-rescue root=/dev/sda8 net.ifnames=0
}
menuentry Rescue System 3.10.7-r1 {
linux /boot/kernel-x86_64-3.10.7-r1-gentoo-rescue root=/dev/sda8 net.ifnames=0
}
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Saturday 25 Jan 2014 10:42:52 Mike Gilbert wrote: On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 7:18 AM, Peter Humphrey pe...@prh.myzen.co.uk wrote: Any ideas anyone? Here's a manually written grub.cfg that should do pretty much what your old menu.lst did. ---8 Well, what a gent! I didn't mean to imply that someone should write it for me, but I'm deeply grateful anyway. I'll give it a try in a minute. Later: works like a charm! I tried a couple of kernels and they just booted. Maybe it'll become clear over time how to arrange the input to grub2-mkconfig to achieve a similar result. Meanwhile I've removed the X bit from it. Some time ago I found a guide to creating menu.cfg manually, but when I tried booting via it grub just stopped, as if waiting for something from me. I deduced that I needed some other stuff called in, besides all the kernel specifiers, but not knowing what, I just left it pro tem. Looks like your suggestions insmod all_video and terminal_output gfxterm do the trick. Now all I have to do is (create and?) specify a character set that (a) can display all the required characters and (b) is big enough to read. Something like the size of the character set in legacy grub would do nicely. Anyway, that can be an exercise for me this wet, windy weekend; then perhaps I'll feel confident enough to unmerge grub:0. Many thanks for your hard work, Mike. -- Regards Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 12:08 PM, Peter Humphrey pe...@prh.myzen.co.uk wrote: On Saturday 25 Jan 2014 10:42:52 Mike Gilbert wrote: On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 7:18 AM, Peter Humphrey pe...@prh.myzen.co.uk wrote: Any ideas anyone? Here's a manually written grub.cfg that should do pretty much what your old menu.lst did. ---8 Well, what a gent! I didn't mean to imply that someone should write it for me, but I'm deeply grateful anyway. I'll give it a try in a minute. Later: works like a charm! I tried a couple of kernels and they just booted. Nice! Maybe it'll become clear over time how to arrange the input to grub2-mkconfig to achieve a similar result. Meanwhile I've removed the X bit from it. grub-mkconfig is nice if you have relatively simple requirements. For anything fancy (like your setup) I prefer to just write it by hand. The manual has pretty good documentation on all of the commands and variables available; it's just a bit difficult to figure out which ones you need and in what order. Looks like your suggestions insmod all_video and terminal_output gfxterm do the trick. Now all I have to do is (create and?) specify a character set that (a) can display all the required characters and (b) is big enough to read. Something like the size of the character set in legacy grub would do nicely. grub2 is able to load any font you like; you just need to convert it to pf2 format using the grub-mkfont utility. You may need to enable the truetype use flag to get that installed. By default, it provides a font called unifont, which is a little ugly but has very good unicode coverage. You can load it by adding this to your grub.cfg: loadfont unicode
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Saturday 25 Jan 2014 17:22:27 Mike Gilbert wrote: On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 12:08 PM, Peter Humphrey pe...@prh.myzen.co.uk wrote: On Saturday 25 Jan 2014 10:42:52 Mike Gilbert wrote: Maybe it'll become clear over time how to arrange the input to grub2-mkconfig to achieve a similar result. Meanwhile I've removed the X bit from it. grub-mkconfig is nice if you have relatively simple requirements. For anything fancy (like your setup) I prefer to just write it by hand. The manual has pretty good documentation on all of the commands and variables available; it's just a bit difficult to figure out which ones you need and in what order. Looks like your suggestions insmod all_video and terminal_output gfxterm do the trick. Now all I have to do is (create and?) specify a character set that (a) can display all the required characters and (b) is big enough to read. Something like the size of the character set in legacy grub would do nicely. grub2 is able to load any font you like; you just need to convert it to pf2 format using the grub-mkfont utility. You may need to enable the truetype use flag to get that installed. By default, it provides a font called unifont, which is a little ugly but has very good unicode coverage. You can load it by adding this to your grub.cfg: loadfont unicode Perhaps I'm getting older or just bored with change, but is there an alternative to grub2 that has the simplicity of grub-legacy, for more complex than your average Ubuntu-like user requirements? I have used grub2 on some Ubuntu and Kubuntu installations which went sideways on non-vanilla set ups. I wasted some hours straightening them up and started thinking nostalgically of grub-legacy which I still run on my gentoo systems. Do I have any other option besides lilo which I left for grub many years ago? -- Regards, Mick signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part.
Re: [gentoo-user] Grub2 and softlevels
On Sat, Jan 25, 2014 at 1:29 PM, Mick michaelkintz...@gmail.com wrote: Perhaps I'm getting older or just bored with change, but is there an alternative to grub2 that has the simplicity of grub-legacy, for more complex than your average Ubuntu-like user requirements? I have used grub2 on some Ubuntu and Kubuntu installations which went sideways on non-vanilla set ups. I wasted some hours straightening them up and started thinking nostalgically of grub-legacy which I still run on my gentoo systems. Do I have any other option besides lilo which I left for grub many years ago? I have heard good things about extlinux. http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php/EXTLINUX
