On Tue, 2006-05-02 at 15:18 +1000, Jeff Waugh wrote: > <quote who="Kevin Saenz"> > > > Just have a question is there a way to boot linux without using a > > bootloader. > > So, in much the same way as you can copy a kernel to a floppy and it 'just > boots', I'm sure there is some way of doing a similar thing from your hard > drive. But it's relatively dangerous, and I'm sure it will involve a bunch > of annoying restrictions in what you can do.
I'm fairly sure you it was possible by putting the kernel at the start of the partition, or something equally dodgy sounding. But like Jamie said, Linux hasn't been able to boot from a floppy for a while now. From the 2.6 README: - Booting a kernel directly from a floppy without the assistance of a bootloader such as LILO, is no longer supported. The biggest restriction I can think of right now is passing parameters to the kernel. Setting a different console resolution, starting in single user mode, or my favourite rescue technique, specifying a different location for init, suddenly become impossible. > > I don't want the option to select new kernels or other OSes. I would like > > to speed up the boot process as well. I have services down to absolute > > minimum. If it helps I am running Gentoo. Doesn't gentoo already use a replacement dependency-based init? If not, trimming down services that are started at boot is a good idea. You could get really evil and move from a SysV to a BSD style init daemon, write your own boot script, and hope that it works. Or have a look at one of the alternative inits out there. The only one that springs to mind is Richard Gooch's dependency-based thing. But I'm sure there's newer fresher alternatives. For what it's worth, I quite like the idea that (at least) ubuntu have picked up, where they start the display manager fairly early in the boot process, and have other daemons and things starting while you're staring at a login screen. > Your best bet is to configure your bootloader to not wait for you... When I cared about such things enough to turn off the bootloader delays, I found I was able to get to a LILO prompt by holding the appropriate key down during the BIOS POST. -- Pete -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
