linux-ext4.vger.kernel.org archive mirror
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
* Use EXT4_BOOT_LOADER_INO for boot loader GRUB?
@ 2013-01-25  8:18 Dr. Tilmann Bubeck
  2013-01-26 18:49 ` Theodore Ts'o
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 11+ messages in thread
From: Dr. Tilmann Bubeck @ 2013-01-25  8:18 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: linux-ext4

There is a long discussion about booting GRUB2 from a partition 
containing ext2/3/4 (e.g. 
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=872826 and many more on the 
net). This is typically a multiboot scenario with a primary boot loader 
in the MBR loading a second bootloader (here "GRUB2") from a partition.

Currently GRUB2 prints an error message when trying to install to a 
ext2/3/4 filesystem with:

"Attempting to install GRUB to a partition instead of the MBR.  This is 
a BAD idea. Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in 
this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and 
their use is discouraged."

The basic problem is, that GRUB needs a safe place to store (currently 
32k) for its boot loader "core.img". That place should be simple to find 
from the primary boot code ("stage1") and the place should be safe for 
user intervention.

QUESTION:

You have reserved a special inode #5 called "EXT4_BOOT_LOADER_INO". Is 
this inode currently used or supported by kernel or user land? What is 
the idea of this inode?

PROPOSAL:

I can think of using that inode to store the file "core.img" of GRUB. 
That file is used by GRUB to boot and the block list of that file is 
stored in GRUB when using "--force" to override the above error.

ext2/3/4 must make sure, that the block list of that file never changes. 
I propose an additional EXT4 ioctl to tell ext4, which file to store in 
EXT4_BOOT_LOADER_INO.

Probably there must be more changes to e2fsck and friends.

Any ideas?

Till

-- 
+-------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
|       | dr. tilmann bubeck               reinform medien- und       |
|       |                                  informationstechnologie AG |
| rein  | fon  : +49 (711) 7 82 76-52      loeffelstr. 40             |
| form  | fax  : +49 (711) 7 82 76-46      70597 stuttgart / germany  |
|    AG | cell.: +49 (172) 8 84 29 72      fon: +49 (711) 75 86 56-10 |
|       | email: t.bubeck@reinform.de      http://www.reinform.de     |
|       +-------------------------------------------------------------+
|       | pflichtangaben nach paragraph 80, AktG:                     |
|       | reinform medien- und informationstechnologie AG, stuttgart  |
|       | handelsregister stuttgart, HRB 23001                        |
|       | vorstand:     dr. tilmann bubeck (vorsitz)                  |
|       | aufsichtsrat: frank stege (vorsitz)                         |
+-------+-------------------------------------------------------------+


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 11+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2013-04-07 21:29 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 11+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2013-01-25  8:18 Use EXT4_BOOT_LOADER_INO for boot loader GRUB? Dr. Tilmann Bubeck
2013-01-26 18:49 ` Theodore Ts'o
2013-02-06  2:15   ` Phillip Susi
2013-02-19 21:15   ` Dr. Tilmann Bubeck
2013-03-18 13:26   ` Dr. Tilmann Bubeck
2013-03-18 13:51     ` Theodore Ts'o
2013-04-07  2:47     ` [PATCH -v3] ext4: implementation of a new ioctl called EXT4_IOC_SWAP_BOOT Theodore Ts'o
2013-04-07 17:09       ` Andreas Dilger
2013-04-07 19:48         ` Theodore Ts'o
2013-04-07 21:29           ` Andreas Dilger
2013-04-07 18:43       ` Dr. Tilmann Bubeck

This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox;
as well as URLs for NNTP newsgroup(s).