From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with archive (Exim 4.43) id 1Hzytl-0007sS-WF for mharc-grub-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:50:50 -0400 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1Hzytk-0007qy-FK for grub-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:50:48 -0400 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1Hzyti-0007q8-Os for grub-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:50:47 -0400 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1Hzyti-0007q2-Gj for grub-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:50:46 -0400 Received: from smtp.freemail.gr ([81.171.104.107]) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1Hzyth-00071t-J7 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:50:46 -0400 Received: from [192.168.1.33] (athedsl-250877.home.otenet.gr [85.73.27.155]) by smtp.freemail.gr (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6C080A08253 for ; Sun, 17 Jun 2007 20:50:41 +0300 (EEST) Message-ID: <467573BF.40305@freemail.gr> Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 20:47:43 +0300 From: Constantine Kousoulos User-Agent: Icedove 1.5.0.10 (X11/20070329) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: The development of GRUB 2 References: <20070616160553.C62C1BFD7@mail.lfs-matrix.net> <4675BFB0.4010902@cross-lfs.org> <87d4zvjuza.wl@dekkers.cx> <20070617092639.GA14818@aragorn> <20070617093715.GA18112@coresystems.de> <87bqfekfkw.wl@dekkers.cx> <20070617112403.GA24100@coresystems.de> In-Reply-To: <20070617112403.GA24100@coresystems.de> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-7; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-detected-kernel: Linux 2.6, seldom 2.4 (older, 4) Subject: Re: 64 Bit Support? 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: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 17:50:48 -0000 Stefan Reinauer wrote: > The problem might be that Grub2 locks out existing operating systems, > if it does not support switching to long mode itself. I read rumours > only, so I might be completely wrong. > > Is anyone booting non-Linux OSes like FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, > OpenSolaris, etc with GRUB2 yet? > Excuse me for stepping into this discussion. I've trying for a while to load an elf64 kernel using GRUB2 and i have failed so far. The reasons for this are many and they can answer why not many people use GRUB2 to load their oses. Firstly, the next version of the multiboot specification does not correspond to the current implementation of GRUB2. It describes many things that GRUB2 does not do. This creates confusion and disappointment. Besides that document, there is virtually no other doc for GRUB2. Secondly, the wiki's entries on testing GRUB2 on x86 need serious update. Thirdly, if anyone cares to use a boot loader nowdays, he/she expects to support loading elf64 images. Although GRUB2 is supposed to do that, in practice that is not completely true. One reason is because none of the GRUB2 developers cared to state explicitly that GRUB2 does not set up long mode. Personally, i found out about it the hard way by looking into source code. In addition to that, i think that there are a few other bugs that prevent GRUB2 from loading elf64 images. Lastly, i found very little support from the grub-devel mailing list. Since GRUB2 is still in development and there is little documentation, i expected to find a little more feedback than the one i got lately. I think that giving no feedback to normal users puts people off from using GRUB2. I think that the above problems need to be addressed in order for GRUB2 to be an even greater piece of software than Grub Legacy currently is. Regards, Constantine