WARNING - OLD ARCHIVES

This is an archived copy of the Xen.org mailing list, which we have preserved to ensure that existing links to archives are not broken. The live archive, which contains the latest emails, can be found at http://lists.xen.org/
   
 
 
Xen 
 
Home Products Support Community News
 
   
 

xen-devel

RE: [Xen-devel] RFC/Patch: Support for other bootloaders

To: "Michal Ostrowski" <mostrows@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Tim Deegan" <Tim.Deegan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: [Xen-devel] RFC/Patch: Support for other bootloaders
From: "Ian Pratt" <m+Ian.Pratt@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 21:57:39 -0000
Cc: <xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <ian.pratt@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Delivery-date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 21:58:16 +0000
Envelope-to: www-data@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
List-archive: <http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum=xen-devel>
List-help: <mailto:xen-devel-request@lists.sourceforge.net?subject=help>
List-id: List for Xen developers <xen-devel.lists.sourceforge.net>
List-post: <mailto:xen-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>
List-subscribe: <https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xen-devel>, <mailto:xen-devel-request@lists.sourceforge.net?subject=subscribe>
List-unsubscribe: <https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xen-devel>, <mailto:xen-devel-request@lists.sourceforge.net?subject=unsubscribe>
Sender: xen-devel-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thread-index: AcUuWb2o8PZbHViGSUawwnigpjiJcwABhQuA
Thread-topic: [Xen-devel] RFC/Patch: Support for other bootloaders
 
> > Did you try using mbootpack for this?  (I haven't tested 
> its output with
> > PXELinux, so I don't know if it would work.)
> 
> No.  This is the first I've heard of it.
> 
> Given the two implementations, let's compare and discuss...
> 
> My objective was to try to use the Linux bits as-is and to have Xen
> recognize that it is not loaded via GRUB (are there any other
> non-GRUB-related multi-boot implementations?).  

kexec supports multiboot (admittedly thanks to a patch from us). 

> As you can see, the
> changes required for Xen to recognize the parameters as passed out of
> Linux's setup.S are not very complicated.  Figuring out where 
> everything
> is is the tough part.
>
> I'm not attached at all to necessarily reach into a Linux 
> build tree to
> extract a built setup and bootsect.  I just think this is the easiest
> way to do it.   x86 BIOS code is just icky and so I'd like to 
> be able to
> avoid having to maintain or even change it.   I think it's easier to
> have Xen get data out of boot_params.

As I recall, mbootpack uses Linux's x86 BIOS code too, so this shouldn't
be an issue. 
 
> So, what I think it boils down to is whether Xen should accept
> parameters passed into it in Linux-style boot_params array, or only
> accept parameters in GRUB format.

I can't see any obvious advantage over the mbootpack approach, and that
has the advantage of being simpler and doesn't require making Xen
understand another boot parameter format.

Is there a downside I haven't spotted?

Ian


-------------------------------------------------------
SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide
Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users.
Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now.
http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_ide95&alloc_id396&op=click
_______________________________________________
Xen-devel mailing list
Xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xen-devel