Re: bootloader customization (was: System Dorked -- Help...)

[moxalt]

On Sun, 25 Oct 2015 13:52:06 -0400, Felix Miata  wrote:

> David Baron composed on 2015-10-25 14:53 (UTC+0200):
> 
> > I started with wheezy 64 bit install and grub2. Did not have any clue how
> > it worked but it did. When upgraded to Sid, added a kernel and wanted to
> > keep the older on around just-in-case, I had no idea how to do this with
> > Grub2 so I went back to Lilo. Lilo also makes it easy of have a systemd and
> > older-style init choice, the latter saved me recently.  
> 
> > Running afoul of having two 1 terra disks around could have been the
> > problem. I have no understanding of this business. I had no problem reading
> > and writing the partition I wanted to make root. Just could not do anything
> > in it, either chroot or on boot into the system which malfunctioned.  
> 
> > How do I make custom boot menus, kernel, init choices and such using the
> > Grub?  
> 
> There are numerous www howtos for customizing Grub2.
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1296225 amounts to one such.
> 
> Customizing Grub Legacy is much simpler.
> http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Installing-GRUB-natively
> explains setting it up simply.
> 
> http://fm.no-ip.com/Share/Linux/menu.lst can serve as a menu.lst template
> based on how things work here. Note in its lower section there are special
> stanzas used only for network installations. I don't download many iso files.
> It's wasteful of bandwidth to download so much that will only be used at most
> once. There are no hard dependencies on configs elsewhere located when using
> Grub Legacy, but do note that Debian's Grub Legacy still cannot read EXT4
> filesystems at least as of Jessie, so its use should be limited accordingly
> either to systems on which EXT4 isn't present, or to needing access only to
> EXT3 or EXT2 or older supported filesystems. Grub Legacy in Mageia, Fedora
> and openSUSE have no such limitation. I use openSUSE's, as it has a nice
> gfxboot configuration that's simple enough to use and customize, and
> extremely friendly at boot time.
> 
> Should you wish to try Grub Legacy, I'll be more than happy to assist.

I used GRUB Legacy (one of the 0.99~ releases) under Debian 7, and it worked
fine reading from ext4.

Re: bootloader customization (was: System Dorked -- Help...)

[Felix Miata]

David Baron composed on 2015-10-25 14:53 (UTC+0200):

> I started with wheezy 64 bit install and grub2. Did not have any clue how it 
> worked but it did. 
> When upgraded to Sid, added a kernel and wanted to keep the older on around 
> just-in-case, I 
> had no idea how to do this with Grub2 so I went back to Lilo. Lilo also makes 
> it easy of have a 
> systemd and older-style init choice, the latter saved me recently.

> Running afoul of having two 1 terra disks around could have been the problem. 
> I have no 
> understanding of this business. I had no problem reading and writing the 
> partition I wanted to 
> make root. Just could not do anything in it, either chroot or on boot into 
> the system which 
> malfunctioned.

> How do I make custom boot menus, kernel, init choices and such using the Grub?

There are numerous www howtos for customizing Grub2.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1296225 amounts to one such.

Customizing Grub Legacy is much simpler.
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Installing-GRUB-natively
explains setting it up simply.

http://fm.no-ip.com/Share/Linux/menu.lst can serve as a menu.lst template
based on how things work here. Note in its lower section there are special
stanzas used only for network installations. I don't download many iso files.
It's wasteful of bandwidth to download so much that will only be used at most
once. There are no hard dependencies on configs elsewhere located when using
Grub Legacy, but do note that Debian's Grub Legacy still cannot read EXT4
filesystems at least as of Jessie, so its use should be limited accordingly
either to systems on which EXT4 isn't present, or to needing access only to
EXT3 or EXT2 or older supported filesystems. Grub Legacy in Mageia, Fedora
and openSUSE have no such limitation. I use openSUSE's, as it has a nice
gfxboot configuration that's simple enough to use and customize, and
extremely friendly at boot time.

Should you wish to try Grub Legacy, I'll be more than happy to assist.
-- 
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/