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

Tue Jan 29 14:59:07 CET 2013

On 29/01/13 12:48, Frank Griffin wrote:
+
+> I wasn't aware of the MBR gap.  I guess you're saying that the core.img
+> that fits in it *is* filesystem-aware ?
+
+Yes, depending on the modules built into it, which are normally correct 
+for our purposes.
+
+>
+> Anyway, my point still stands: for anyone who just wants to have grub
+> and grub2 partitons coexist on the same disk with either one in the MBR,
+> chainloading will accomplish this without any downside that isn't
+> already present in grub legacy.
+
+Yes
+
+  Grub2 may be the way of the future, but
+> to *require* it to own the MBR is just misleading.
+
+Yes, it only gives that impression. It does not need to be the primary 
+bootloader.
+
+To demonstrate this I made a fresh install of Mageia3 with only grub 
+legacy installed and booted from MBR.
+I then installed the grub2 package (nothing more) and added an entry for 
+the grub2 bootloader to the grub legacy menu.lst. (as in the README)
+I then re-booted and selected the grub2 entry from the legacy menu.
+The grub2 menu launched and contained all my systems - including the new 
+Mageia3.
+Selecting Mageia3 launched the OS.
+Likewise selecting Mageia2 (found automatically during install of grub2) 
+launched that correctly.
+
+The MBR has not been touched at all since the installation of grub 
+legacy by the Mageia installer.
+
+Note that I do not advocate this as a sensible route to multi-booting, 
+since it takes no account of kernel updates - it is just a demonstration.
+
+Barry
+
+
+
+