bugGNU GRUB - Bugs: bug #55118, ISO file generation for testing a...

 
 

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bug #55118: ISO file generation for testing a boot menu

Submitter:  Markus Elfring <elfring>
Submitted:  Tue 27 Nov 2018 04:01:33 PM UTC
   
 
Category:  Booting Severity:  Major
Priority:  5 - Normal Item Group:  Feature Request
Status:  None Privacy:  Public
Assigned to:  None Originator Name: 
Open/Closed:  Open Release:  2.02
Release:  Reproducibility:  Every Time
Planned Release:  None

Wed 28 Nov 2018 08:00:25 AM UTC, comment #5: 

It seems that the following boot menu specifications mostly work as expected.



  menuentry 'GParted 0.32.0-1' --class Debian --class Linux {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    ISO=/ISO/gparted-live-0.32.0-1-amd64.iso
    search -f --set --no-floppy $ISO
    loopback xyz $ISO
    linux (xyz)/live/vmlinuz boot=live config union=overlay username=user noswap noprompt ip=frommedia findiso=/boot$ISO toram=filesystem.squashfs lang=de keyboard=de
    initrd (xyz)/live/initrd.img
  }

  menuentry 'Grml 2017-05' --class Debian --class Linux {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    ISO=/ISO/grml64-full_2017.05.iso
    search -f --set --no-floppy $ISO
    loopback xyz $ISO
    linux (xyz)/boot/grml64full/vmlinuz boot=live live-media-path=/live/grml64-full/ findiso=/boot$ISO bootid=grml64full201705 grml2ram ssh=secret noeject noprompt lang=de vga=0x31b startx
    initrd (xyz)/boot/grml64full/initrd.img
  }



Will it become helpful to offer similar configurations as ISO files for further GRUB2 tests?

Markus Elfring <elfring>
Tue 27 Nov 2018 07:43:00 PM UTC, comment #4: 

GRUB2 boot menus worked for a while also on my system.

Are you interested in the development of further test cases around similar examples from SYSLINUX configurations?

Markus Elfring <elfring>
Tue 27 Nov 2018 07:36:59 PM UTC, comment #3: 

Hi,

i assume the admins of this bug tracker begin to see our conversation as
being off topic. Maybe you should describe your use case at -email is unavailable-
and ask for advise. See
  https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-grub

I get the impression that it is about learning the kernel boot parameters
from the ISOLINUX configuration file inside the ISO (/syslinux/isolinux.cfg ?)
and translating them into a GRUB menu entry. Plus new parameters to let
the kernel boot from a file rather than a device.

Have a nice day :)

Thomas

Thomas Schmitt <scdbackup>
Tue 27 Nov 2018 06:37:37 PM UTC, comment #2: 
  • Is it possible to use a SYSLINUX boot image also directly from the provided ISO file by the loopback technique?
  • Should I try any other configuration parameters out for the desired data access?
Markus Elfring <elfring>
Tue 27 Nov 2018 06:01:58 PM UTC, comment #1: 

Hi,

> linux (xyz)/syslinux/isolinux.bin


This is the SYSLINUX/ISOLINUX boot image for El Torito. Isn't that a
use case for chain loading rather than for OS start by "linux" ?

  https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/html_node/Chain_002dloading.html
  https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/html_node/GNU_002fLinux.html#GNU_002fLinux

But i somewhat doubt that isolinux.bin will work with a loopback device
from GRUB. Further, to properly start an operating system, it would need
a SYSLINUX menu definition, not a definition for GRUB.


Have a nice day :)

Thomas

Thomas Schmitt <scdbackup>
Tue 27 Nov 2018 04:01:33 PM UTC, original submission:  

I would like to construct a boot menu (like the following) for the software “GRUB 2.02-35.1”.



  menuentry 'GParted 0.32.0-1 (aus der SSHD-Boot-Partition)' --class Debian --class Linux --class ISO {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    ISO=/ISO/gparted-live-0.32.0-1-amd64.iso
    search -f --set --no-floppy $ISO
    loopback xyz $ISO
    linux (xyz)/syslinux/isolinux.bin boot=live config union=aufs noswap noprompt ip=frommedia findiso=/boot$ISO toram=filesystem.squashfs lang=de keyboard=de
  }



I saw the message “error: invalid magic number” after I selected such a boot menu entry.
But I determined from the display of a hex editor that the value “0xaa55” should exist at the expected position in the referenced iso file.

  • Now I am curious if a corresponding ISO file variant can be created so that such a configuration can be tried out also by the execution of a virtual machine (instead of writing the data to an other physical device before).
  • Will it help to print a bit of extra information (like bytes from the failed comparison) for easier software debugging?
Markus Elfring <elfring>

 

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Carbon-Copy List
  • -email is unavailable- added by scdbackup (Posted a comment)
  • -email is unavailable- added by elfring (Submitted the item)
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