Ubuntu
usb-creator package

FFe: grub bootloader support

Bug #633712 reported by Mario Limonciello
10
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
usb-creator (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Undecided
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Bug Description

Binary package hint: usb-creator

Originally Maverick was supposed to move to GRUB on cds (see https://blueprints.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/foundations-m-cd-boot for more info). Due to a reduced schedule, this was deferred to natty.

During lucid development, the syntax for syslinux changed from 10.04 (and less) to 10.10. This means that the usb-creator and syslinux in 10.04 and less are unable to burn 10.10 images until the SRU update.

The same thing will happen to usb-creator for Natty when the bootloader is moved to GRUB instead of isolinux/syslinux.So this is a request to add support for using grub as a bootloader instead of syslinux.

The support has been added to the trunk branch (linked) and tested using hand crafted grub core.img and boot.img files located in the file the will be located on the media for natty.

There shouldn't be any risk of regression as this code path is only activated if a grub directory is found on the source ISO image.

Revision history for this message
Scott Kitterman (kitterman) wrote : Re: [Bug 633712] [NEW] FFe: grub bootloader support

How certain is the group that the Natty design for grub bootloader support is
well enough understood now that we won't end up having to SRU usb-creator
anyway due to changes in the design during the next cycle?

Revision history for this message
Mario Limonciello (superm1) wrote :

Scott:

The way it has been implemented is more impervious to changes in the bootloader than how syslinux was. With syslinux, from the beginning the configuration file that was used was always the isolinux.cfg that shipped with the ISO, just mangled to work with syslinux. If syslinux introduced a syntax change, that would mean there was a chance that the configuration file was incompatible. This is what happened with Lucid/Maverick.

The way this is implemented, it relies on the core.img and boot.img that are stored on the ISO, which are guaranteed to be compatible with the configuration file already on the ISO. They are written with dd rather than with grub-setup, so the on-system grub tools will never have a chance to cause any skew problems.

I checked with Colin on the locations being used, and these will be what's used for Natty as well.

The only other area that could potentially be troublesome is that usb-creator appends "noprompt" and "cdrom-detect/try-usb=true" to the end of syslinux options. Instead for natty it should be possible to append these in the configuration file directly without modifications from usb-creator if grub detects that it is booted off of a CD instead of USB key.

Revision history for this message
Scott Kitterman (kitterman) wrote :

I'm going to approve this as long as ev is OK with it.

Changed in usb-creator (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Roderick B. Greening (roderick-greening) wrote :

This seems like a worthwhile change. I would like to see this integrated.

Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

This bug was fixed in the package usb-creator - 0.2.25

---------------
usb-creator (0.2.25) maverick; urgency=low

  * Grow support for installing GRUB to USB sticks if it's detected in the image
    rather than isolinux. (LP: #633712)
 -- Mario Limonciello <email address hidden> Thu, 23 Sep 2010 03:17:56 -0500

Changed in usb-creator (Ubuntu):
status: Confirmed → Fix Released
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