Re: [LAU] Curious about the reasons for not using GRUB [Re: Meltdown – Spectre]

On Sat, 13 Jan 2018 14:14:58 +0200, Besnik Bleta wrote: Hi, I noticed that you replied off-list, but since I don't want to answer the same off-list question again and again (I've done this already several times), I'll reply to the mailing list. syslinux.cfg is nicer to edit than grub.cfg. While it's possible to get a similar clean grub.cfg as a regular syslinux.cfg already is by default, I still prefer syslinux.cfg over grub.cfg. I never used the grub auto-thingies, such as the configs for the config or os-prober, since they are just a PITA. The reason for this is that the auto-thingies do not provide I want to get and they run during upgrades, when there's no need to perform those time consuming tasks. Btw. I dislike distros that enforce by package dependencies to install grub, even if another distro already provides the bootloader, so I divert some of this crap: [rocketmouse@archlinux ~]$ cat /mnt/moonstudio/usr/src/dpkg-divert-grub.sh #!/bin/bash divert () { cat<<EOF #!/bin/dash name=\$(echo \$(basename \$0) | sed -e 's/[0-9]\+ *//') printf "\n \033[7m\$(basename \$0) was renamed \$name.real\033[0m\n\n" exit EOF } case $1 in --add) for s in grub-mkconfig update-grub do s=/usr/sbin/$s dpkg-divert --add --rename --divert $s.real $s && divert > $s chmod a+x $s done;; --remove) for s in grub-mkconfig update-grub do s=/usr/sbin/$s rm $s && dpkg-divert --rename --remove $s done;; --list) dpkg-divert --list | grep "local diversion of" ls -hlv /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig* /usr/sbin/update-grub*|grep -v "gf" ;; *) cat $0; esac exit IMO syslinux has got just one disadvantage compared with grub. Grub doesn't require chainloading. To avoid chainloading when using syslinux my workaround is to move all kernels of different installs on one partition and to bind /boot. [rocketmouse@archlinux ~]$ ls -hAld /boot/ /.boot/*/boot/ drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jan 12 02:43 /boot/ drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Feb 17 2017 /.boot/suse11.2/boot/ drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jan 11 09:42 /.boot/ubuntu_moonstudio/boot/ drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Aug 27 2013 /.boot/ubuntu_q/boot/ [rocketmouse@archlinux ~]$ grep bind /mnt/moonstudio/etc/fstab /mnt/archlinux/.boot/ubuntu_moonstudio/boot /boot none bind 0 0 Another possible pitfall might be dual-head usage on demand. I don't know if grub is able to handle this, at least syslinux isn't. If an LCD should be connected by HDMI and a CRT by VGA, but the CRT should be turned off, than syslinux doesn't show the menu on the LCD display, while the BIOS is still shown on the LCD display. If I don't want to use the dual-head set-up, I need to disconnect the CRT, too see the syslinux menu. I never tested if grub could manage this better than syslinux. This is my current syslinux.cfg: [rocketmouse@archlinux ~]$ cat /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg # http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/Doc/menu PROMPT 0 TIMEOUT 600 UI menu.c32 MENU HIDDEN MENU CLEAR MENU COLOR screen 0;30;40 MENU COLOR border 0;30;40 MENU COLOR title 1;37;44 MENU COLOR unsel 0;37;40 MENU COLOR hotkey 1;37;40 MENU COLOR hotsel 7;37;40 MENU COLOR sel 7;37;40 MENU COLOR disabled 1;37;40 MENU COLOR scrollbar 0;30;40 MENU COLOR tabmsg 0;30;40 MENU COLOR cmdmark 0;31;40 MENU COLOR cmdline 0;37;40 MENU COLOR timeout_msg 0;37;40 MENU COLOR timeout 1;37;40 # Used hotkeys: ^8 ^A ^C ^e ^H ^M ^n ^P ^Q ^R ^t ^V DEFAULT Rt MENU TITLE HAL 9000 LABEL Toolbox MENU LABEL Toolbox MENU DISABLE MENU SEPARATOR LABEL Hardware MENU LABEL ^Hardware Detection COM32 hdt.c32 LABEL Memtest MENU LABEL Memtest^86+ LINUX /.boot/ubuntu_moonstudio/boot/memtest86+.bin LABEL Reset MENU LABEL R^eset COM32 reboot.c32 MENU SEPARATOR MENU SEPARATOR LABEL Arch Menu MENU LABEL Arch Linux MENU DISABLE MENU SEPARATOR LABEL Threadirqs MENU LABEL Arch Linux ^threadirqs LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux APPEND root=LABEL=archlinux ro threadirqs INITRD ../initramfs-linux.img LABEL Pussytoes MENU LABEL Arch Linux Rt ^Pussytoes LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux-rt-pussytoes APPEND root=LABEL=archlinux ro INITRD ../initramfs-linux-rt-pussytoes.img LABEL Cornflower MENU LABEL Arch Linux Rt ^Cornflower LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux-rt-cornflower APPEND root=LABEL=archlinux ro INITRD ../initramfs-linux-rt-cornflower.img LABEL Rt MENU LABEL Arch Linux ^Rt LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux-rt APPEND root=LABEL=archlinux ro INITRD ../initramfs-linux-rt.img LABEL Arch MENU LABEL ^Arch Linux LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux APPEND root=LABEL=archlinux ro INITRD ../initramfs-linux.img MENU SEPARATOR MENU SEPARATOR LABEL Other Menu MENU LABEL Other Linux MENU DISABLE MENU SEPARATOR LABEL Moonstudio MENU LABEL Ubuntu X ^Moon Studio lowlatency LINUX /.boot/ubuntu_moonstudio/boot/vmlinuz-lowlatency APPEND root=LABEL=moonstudio ro INITRD /.boot/ubuntu_moonstudio/boot/initrd.img-lowlatency LABEL Nokaiser MENU LABEL Ubuntu X Moon Studio lowlatency ^nokaiser LINUX /.boot/ubuntu_moonstudio/boot/vmlinuz-lowlatency APPEND root=LABEL=moonstudio ro nokaiser INITRD /.boot/ubuntu_moonstudio/boot/initrd.img-lowlatency LABEL Light MENU LABEL Ubuntu ^Q LightScribe Rt LINUX /.boot/ubuntu_q/boot/vmlinuz-3.6.5-rt14 APPEND root=LABEL=q ro nomodeset INITRD /.boot/ubuntu_q/boot/initrd.img-3.6.5-rt14 LABEL Suse MENU LABEL ^Vintage SUSE 11.2 Rt LINUX /.boot/suse11.2/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.6-rt19 APPEND root=LABEL=suse11.2 INITRD /.boot/suse11.2/boot/initrd-2.6.31.6-rt19 Regards, Ralf