[Mageia-dev] Grub2 vs. Grub Legacy in M3

[Felix Miata]

On 2013-01-28 22:38 (GMT) Barry Jackson composed:

> Felix Miata wrote:

>> On 2013-01-28 19:27 (GMT) Barry Jackson composed:

>>> So IMO all of the FUD about "you can't install grub2 to the PBR" is
>>> pointless since it's just not necessary.

>> Maybe not all is FUD. I don't see anything in that README that describes
>> a procedure for an OS/2 or eCS multibooter whose primary bootloader
>> and/or bootloader of choice is IBM Boot Manager, which is prerequisite
>> to booting OS/2 when it is installed to a logical partition (the only
>> place I've ever installed it in the past decade). It can't be told to
>> load a particular file on a partition, only its PBR via the simple
>> process of selecting a partition in its setup utility for inclusion in
>> its boot menu. It works (in effect, chainloads) fine for partitions on
>> which Grub Legacy has been configured with the Grub Legacy setup
>> command. The only options I see for such users is selecting a partition
>> with Grub Legacy configured with menu.lst stanza(s) that include
>> core.img, or configuring IBM BM as a secondary bootloader to a primary
>> bootloader that is not installed on the MBR.

> Maybe.
> I have no OS/2 systems to test with.
> I think grub2 can be forced to write to the PBR (but I can't find it
> documented just now).
> Maybe you could investigate and test this and suggest an edit to the
> README ?

Doing this justice probably requires a bigger scope than I can handle. I 
stopped upgrading eCS at v2.0, while in releases since then, the default eCS 
boot manager was changed to AiR-Boot, which is yet another problem, as it 
installs into the MBR track. OTOH, Gene Alexander, who is an eCS VAR, should 
be equipped to do this if he's willing and able to invest the time. I see 
he's filed 25 Mageia bugs and was a Mandriva user pre-Mageia.

Not only is eCS >2.0 beyond my means (and interest), Grub Legacy took me a 
long time to wrap my head around, leaving me loathe to invest more than 
nominal time in Grub2 issues, with its extensive deviations from Grub Legacy 
basics, and yet youthful stage of development and documentation.

I've only ever allowed Grub2 to be installed on a very few *buntu installs. I 
currently have Kubuntu 10.04 LTS  with Grub 1.98 on its sda12 PBR booting 
from IBM BM on sda2 on host gx150, and I have Kubuntu 12.04 LTS with Grub 
1.99 on its sda15 PBR booting from IBM BM on sda2 on host t2240. These are 13 
& 11 year old and slow Intel systems. The former is i815 with Piii CPU with 
neither had Mandriva nor Mageia ever installed, and I like to avoid doing any 
more than I must with it.

The newer host t2240 is a Celeron P4 @ 2.40GHz and i845G chipset I have 
similar but weaker aversion to use. It does have M2 with Grub Legacy on sda16 
PBR booting from IBM BM (until today not booted since June).

Does M2 have current Grub2 in backports, or would it be simple enough to 
install from Cauldron repos? If so, maybe if needed and pressed I could find 
time to try installing Grub2 to its PBR. I'm not of a mind to replace M2 
there yet, and it doesn't have space for a new installation of anything until 
I figure out what if anything I want to do about its crowded HD.
-- 
"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/