GRUB remapping conflicts with MS-DOS mode

[jaclaz]

That is not really a "fork" and it is not Subergrub2", it is  actually "Supergrub (2) disk" it is a (nice BTW) project that provides a working, pre-compiled/pre-made boot disk (CD but can be deployed to USB stick) capable (in most cases) to boot a machine where the local install of Grub (or other bootmanager/bootloader) has been corrupted/doesn't boot the OS anymore:

https://www.supergrubdisk.org/

https://github.com/supergrub/supergrub

Quote

The primary purpose of Super Grub2 Disk is to help you boot into an OS whose bootloader is broken. Second, and almost as important, is to be a tool to learn more about GRUB2 and the booting process.

if you prefer it is a practical implementation of GRUB2.

Maybe you were thinking of GRUB2WIN, though that is  also not really a "fork" but rather a set of programs to make GRUB2 more accessible to Windows users:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/grub2win/files/

jaclaz

[awkduck]

@jaclaz No, "Super Grub 2 Disk" is the one I was thinking of. Its just been awhile, since I've looked at it.

But now that I'm a little refreshed on it, it looks like one could examine it and maybe gain some Grub2 knowledge.

This Github folder has many CFG files. Some of it is well commented.

Even with all of that, it is still no Grub4dos.

I see they have "disable_gfxterm=true"; so theme support would need to be learned elsewhere.

[Some video cards cannot load Windows 9x (some NT versions too) graphics, after Grub2's extended graphics mode are loaded.]

[An old bug, that was never addressed. The basic Grub2 video mode is fine.]

loadfont /boot/grub/unicode.pf2
insmod all_video
insmod vbe
insmod gfxterm
set gfxmode=1023x768x32
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod png
set theme=/boot/grub/themes/sometheme/theme.txt

And if a guy wants explore the grub terminal, "set pager=1" is a must. There is no pause or scroll back, when listing more then fits in a screen. Pager is kinda like "MORE" or "DIR /P".

I like that you can mount and boot an ISO/Harddisk IMG (Grub2). But if your not booting Linux, it would need extra help.

[morris]

On 5/15/2023 at 8:15 AM, jaclaz said:

If you installl a Linux distro everything is automated, but when/if you need anything outside what the good guys putting together the distro decided to include/pre-set/etc. things become problematic.

You're right about GRUB2. I profoundly disliked it when it came out, I remember studying the manual and those dedoimedo articles you posted. I remember printing them out.

The thing is that if you use a modern distro you don't have any other choice but to get used to it.

You just edit /etc/default/grub to alter general boot options and kernel parameters and /etc/grub.d/40_custom if you need to add entries, and then you run a script that creates the new grub.cfg If you manually edit grub.cfg you are asking for trouble because with many package updates the grub update script runs and the cfg file is recreated.

I think you're right when you say there's a resemblance to systemd which I personally loathe. But as awkduck said, it brings improvements.

In the end most of my boot problems were related to bios config issues and quirks of this particular motherboard configuration, I finally sorted it all out and I'm happy with the results.

Thanks for your help guys!

Edited May 30, 2023 by morris