[Clfs-dev] Updated BOOT Section

[Akira Urushibata]

> Although, I feel sorry for the soul who has to manually type the  
> whole build process, or I'm happy for the soul which has a script to  
> build the final system.

I write down each and every command into a notebook by hand.
I make numerous little adjustments and I have to keep track.

---

If the bootloader fails to work on the first shot, you'll have to go
through a lot of hard labor to get it fixed.  I've had better
experiences with GRUB Legacy than with GRUB2.

When you encounter a problem with GRUB2, the first thing to do is to
determine at what stage it is happening.

(1) GRUB2 doesn't load.

(2) GRUB2 loads, but it can't find its configuration file.  No menu.

(3) GRUB2 loads, and a menu appears, but the entries don't work.

Case (1) can usually be fixed by tweaking the BIOS setting.
If not, it probably means that you've installed GRUB2 in the
wrong place.

Case (2) is nasty.  GRUB2's command line interface is not easy
to handle.  You should print out the manual, or load it to
another computer or palm device for this situation.

If you encounter case (2) or (3), try the ls command.
The devices detected by GRUB2 will show up.  If too few devices
show up and the root device is missing, there is nothing you
can do.  If all your hard drives show up, take down their names,
edit the boot menu entry appropriately and see if boot succeeds.

Note that if you make a rescue CD-ROM, and it turns out that it
doesn't detect your hard drives, it's useless as rescue media.
Whether it works must be checked before rewriting the master
boot record of the hard drive.

You can make a GRUB2 rescue CD-ROM with a kernel image.  GRUB2
can usually find the device it resides in, so this should work.
The Linux kernel scans devices on its own and is not influenced
with GRUB2's idea of available drives.

Hope this helps.