From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with archive (Exim 4.43) id 1MytnQ-0000C5-GO for mharc-grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:53:08 -0400 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1MytnO-0000Bq-NU for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:53:06 -0400 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1MytnJ-0000BK-Ri for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:53:06 -0400 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=38707 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1MytnJ-0000BH-NA for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:53:01 -0400 Received: from xvm-190-8.ghst.net ([217.70.190.8]:41269 helo=aybabtu.com) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS-1.0:RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1MytnJ-0003XT-A3 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:53:01 -0400 Received: from [192.168.10.10] (helo=thorin) by aybabtu.com with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1MytnG-00030r-W8 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:52:59 +0200 Received: from rmh by thorin with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1MytnG-0002Fr-Bi for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:52:58 +0200 Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:52:58 +0200 From: Robert Millan To: The development of GRUB 2 Message-ID: <20091016205258.GA8496@thorin> References: <4AD8514E.2040304@gmail.com> <4AD87D15.7060408@gmail.com> <20091016160156.GA4986@nubol.oskuro.net> <20091016183805.GE7037@thorin> <4AD8D305.5000806@gmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <4AD8D305.5000806@gmail.com> Organization: free as in freedom X-Message-Flag: Worried about Outlook viruses? Switch to Thunderbird! www.mozilla.com/thunderbird X-Debbugs-No-Ack: true User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.18 (2008-05-17) X-detected-operating-system: by monty-python.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 3) Subject: Re: [PATCH] Refuse to install on XFS destroying its superblock X-BeenThere: grub-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: The development of GRUB 2 List-Id: The development of GRUB 2 List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:53:06 -0000 On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 10:09:41PM +0200, Vladimir 'phcoder' Serbinenko wrote: > Robert Millan wrote: > > On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 06:01:56PM +0200, Jordi Mallach wrote: > > > >> On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 04:03:01PM +0200, Vladimir 'phcoder' Serbinenko wrote: > >> > >>> + if (memcmp (tmp_img, "XFSB", 4) == 0) > >>> + grub_util_error ("Can't install on XFS."); > >>> > >> Can this error message give some more detail on what the problem is? > >> > > > > I suggest something like: > > > > grub_util_warn ("Refusing to overwrite XFS meta-data."); > > > > This is more informative, and with grub_util_warn() user has an opportunity to > > override it if she knows what she's doing. > > > > > Installing with blocklists/to partition is considered > backward-compatibility feature. We never supported a config with XFS why > we would want bw-compat for it? Because we can't reliably tell if it's a config with XFS, only the user can. This is an issue for both MBR or PBR installs. Maybe "XFSB" is only a remnant from one of this disk / partition former lifes. Maybe it's a valid XFS but user no longer cares about it. Or maybe a DOS-style label was created on top of it, without overwriting the first 440 bytes. Or maybe another filesystem had overwritten most XFS metadata but preserved the first block (this is conceivable since other filesystems tend to avoid using the first block). If user has to workaround GRUB heuristics by dd'ing zeros into a partition before running grub-install, this is a sign GRUB isn't doing the right thing. -- Robert Millan The DRM opt-in fallacy: "Your data belongs to us. We will decide when (and how) you may access your data; but nobody's threatening your freedom: we still allow you to remove your data and not access it at all."