Mark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Yes its possible to terminate anaconda and reboot at the end of the > %pre scripting section . However, a really interesting possibility > that I havnt tried would be to let Anaconda keep going through its > paces. This might be done (?) by giving anaconda a zero package > install list in its comps.xml file. Then you get all the partitioning > / mbr / boot loader tools.
Except we really don't want the boot loader tools, because our typical case is installing an NTFS-based Windows system. GRUB would be unable to read its configuration file. I suppose it WOULD be cute to be able to use Disk Druid... But we really do need to install our own MBR. Also, right now the automation files (Z:\site\unattend.txt and Z:\site\config.pl) are shared between the DOS-based and Linux-based boot disks. Using kickstart would give that up. > Yes have a box booted into the pre-intall ramdisk right now. wget > comes with BusyBox v1.00 that they use. Fedora also supports NFS, > FTP, and FAT hard disk installations - all the needed tools are > available as soon as the main Anaconda stage is loaded from the > installation media souce (CD or server). That stage is pretty large > - 18.3MB right now from the Fedora development snapshot. Well, they get X running, which is non-trivial. Admittedly pretty, though. > Ah they rolled in your patches to the main kernel tree already? > Fast work. Yeah, I sent them to the EDD maintainer (Matt Domsch) who pushed them to Andrew Morton who pushed them to Linus. Soon I will be able to say that my assembly code runs every time any x86 Linux system boots anywhere :-). See arch/i386/boot/edd.S. > I saw some kernel list traffic on that from some developer - that I > didnt follow - suggesting that it was wiser to say goodbye to the > BIOS geometry? Yes, and he was wrong. > Perhaps that doesn't consider 'other' OS requirements present here. Precisely. The Windows boot loader still runs in real mode using BIOS calls. If the BIOS geometry does not match the partition table, it just plain fails to boot. > If the disk partioning work can be done by Anaconda, does that > eliminate the geometry problem? Hmm I suppose the windows installer > will still have headaches even if it doesnt have to partition? Right. You MUST use the legacy geometry to create the partition table if you want to boot Windows, period. Trust me on this one; I spent many hours banging my head against a wall figuring it out. However, we can tell the kernel what geometry to use in the %pre section, which will automatically cause Disk Druid / fdisk / whatever to do the right thing. This is actually what we do right now. > Yes, many somebodys, as there's a zillion eyes on the Fedora > kernel/initrd. They've already fallen into and climbed out of many > bug holes. Selinux caused some initial problems. I happen to think that the right pair of eyes is worth more than a random zillion. Truth be told, my heart lies more with the cathedral than with the bazaar. That said, you have a good point. On the other hand, our needs are really pretty minor compared to what Anaconda does. > Ok Im stepping up as time permits, which means end of May. And just > for flame fun, I may try to convert some perl scripts to python. > Anaconda is python based, so that would allow me to drop the bash > and perl baggage. I first learned Perl when Python barely existed. If I were starting today, I might learn Python instead... But Perl is "good enough", and with a little discipline it is even possible to write decent code. Note that Perl is also our extension language (Z:\site\config.pl), and I am unlikely to want to give that up. Worst case, we can give you a sub-tree in the unattended project which you can maintain yourself :-). BTW, I am building a boot disk with USB keyboard support now. I think. - Pat ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: The Robotic Monkeys at ThinkGeek For a limited time only, get FREE Ground shipping on all orders of $35 or more. Hurry up and shop folks, this offer expires April 30th! http://www.thinkgeek.com/freeshipping/?cpg=12297 _______________________________________________ unattended-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unattended-devel
