Re: Alternative booting method for grub2

[Robert Millan <rmh@aybabtu.com>]

Works wonders.  I'm using it with win32-loader [1] [2], and plans are that
this will make it to official Debian CDs/DVDs for the next major release.

I wonder if it can create a "grub.com" executable like the one grub4dos had,
so that it's possible to load GRUB directly on a Win9x without rebooting or
messing with MBR.

[1] http://packages.debian.org/sid/win32-loader
[2] http://goodbye-microsoft.com/

On Fri, Jun 08, 2007 at 12:02:12PM +0800, Bean wrote:
> It's possible to boot grub2 using the grub4dos boot loader. 
> 
> 1. create a kernel:
> 
>   grub-mkimage -d . -o core.img pc fat ntfs
> 
> make sure you include the necessary file system driver.
> 
> 2. add a header to core.img.
> 
>   cat g2hdr.bin core.img > g2ldr
> 
> g2hdr.bin can be found in the grubutil package.
> 
> 3. copy g2ldr to the root directory of any FAT/NTFS/EXT2 partition, and extra modules to /boot/grub/ in the same partition.
> 
> 4. install the grub4dos boot loader.
> 
> You need grubinst, which can be downloaded at:
> 
> http://download.gna.org/grubutil/
> 
> The latest build is grubutil-1.1-bin-w32-15.zip.
> 
> 1) Boot using the Windows NT boot manager
> 
> Generate boot file with grubinst:
> 
>   grubinst -2 -o C:\g2ldr.mbr
> 
> Then add a line to boot.ini:
> 
>   C:\g2ldr.mbr="GRUB2"
> 
> This is the safest method, no modification to MBR or boot sector is required.
> 
> 2) Install to MBR
> 
>   grubinst -2 --save=mbr.sav (hd0)
> 
> Be careful, backup important data before install to MBR.
> 
> 3) Install to boot sector
> 
>   grubinst -2 --save=bs.sav (hd0,0)
> 
> or
> 
>   grubinst -2 --save=bs.sav -p=0 (hd0)
> 
> Be careful, backup important data before install to boot sector.
> 
> Currently, grub4dos boot loader support FAT, NTFS and EXT2.
> 
> The advantage of using grub4dos boot loader is that the location of g2ldr is calculated at boot time, this means you can move it without causing problem.
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Grub-devel mailing list
> Grub-devel@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/grub-devel
> 

-- 
Robert Millan

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