From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with archive (Exim 4.43) id 1MyukD-0003BW-PM for mharc-grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:53:53 -0400 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1MyukC-0003BE-1e for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:53:52 -0400 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1Myuk7-000383-Af for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:53:51 -0400 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=41798 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1Myuk7-00037q-5B for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:53:47 -0400 Received: from xvm-190-8.ghst.net ([217.70.190.8]:58211 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 1Myuk6-0003PS-N4 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:53:46 -0400 Received: from [192.168.10.10] (helo=thorin) by aybabtu.com with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1Myuk4-0003EH-1z for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:53:44 +0200 Received: from rmh by thorin with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1Myuk3-0002Rj-E1 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:53:43 +0200 Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:53:43 +0200 From: Robert Millan To: The development of GRUB 2 Message-ID: <20091016215343.GA9378@thorin> References: <4AD8514E.2040304@gmail.com> <4AD87D15.7060408@gmail.com> <20091016160156.GA4986@nubol.oskuro.net> <20091016183805.GE7037@thorin> <4AD8D305.5000806@gmail.com> <20091016205258.GA8496@thorin> <4AD8E0CF.9080509@gmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <4AD8E0CF.9080509@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 21:53:52 -0000 On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 11:08:31PM +0200, Vladimir 'phcoder' Serbinenko wrote: > Robert Millan wrote: > > 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. > > > > > Well, ok. But then I would ask to use a separate --force e.g. > --force-destroy-xfs since users and distributions tend to use --force > too much Ok. -- 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."