On 19 September 2001, Derrik Pates said:
> On Wed, 19 Sep 2001, Greg Ward wrote:
>
> > # grub-install --root-dir=/floppy '(fd0)'
>
> Um. You have to type it _exactly_ - --root-dir isn't going to work, you
> have to type --root-directory.
Sigh. I have been spoiled by command-line parsers that handle
abbrevations.
<rant disclaimer="I do like GRUB, really I do">
This is the kind of simple, silly usability glitch that causes people to
turn their backs on a program pretty quickly. I'm not referring to the
fact that the option parser doesn't handle abbreviations; that's just a
feature. What is really key here is the fact that grub-install failed
to give me a clear, simple error message like "Unrecognized option:
--root-dir". If it had done that, I would have slapped my forehead,
tried --root-directory, and not had to bother the list. Accurately
complaining about unrecognized command-line options is not glamorous,
sexy programming. It is, however, utterly essential if people are going
to be able to *use* the software in the real world.
</rant>
OK, this time I ran
# grub-install --root-directory=/floppy '(fd0)'
and it's not entirely clear to me if the operation failed or succeeded.
(I'll know in a few minutes, when I try to boot off this floppy.)
Here's the output I got:
Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
expr: non-numeric argument
GRUB version 0.5.96.1 (640K lower / 3072K upper memory)
[ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB
lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible
completions of a device/filename. ]
grub> root
(fd0,)
Error 12: Invalid device requested
grub> setup
--stage2=/floppy/boot/grub/stage2 --prefix=/boot/grub (fd0)
Error 12: Invalid device requested
grub> quit
What the heck is going on here? Why all the error messages -- have I
done something wrong, or is there something wrong with grub-install?
See above rant. Generalize to all sorts of error-handling. Sigh...
Greg
--
Greg Ward - Unix nerd [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://starship.python.net/~gward/
"What do you mean -- a European or an African swallow?"
_______________________________________________
Bug-grub mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-grub
