[arch-releng] grub install not listing partitions

[C Anthony Risinger]

I use a similar setup at home (gpt/grub2 -> mdraid-> lvm2).  Since I use
GPT the booting is different, but I believe the first 1ehm-eye-bee is
skipped -- I install the BIOS-GPT piece of grub2 to both disks in my RAID.

AFAIK, most tools/schemes/standards following BIOS+MBR simply avoid that
area entirely.

C Anthony
On Dec 23, 2011 12:25 PM, "Dieter Plaetinck" <dieter at plaetinck.be> wrote:

> On Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:14:49 +0100
> Dieter Plaetinck <dieter at plaetinck.be> wrote:
>
> > On Fri, 16 Dec 2011 09:34:57 +0000
> > Eric Fernandez <zeb at zebulon.org.uk> wrote:
> >
> > > 2011/12/16 Matthew Gyurgyik <pyther at pyther.net>:
> > > >
> > > > I agree with Thomas.
> > > >
> > > > 1.) There are better alternatives to installing grub on a
> > > > partition (see Thomas' mail).
> > > >
> > > > 3.) Don't use grub-legacy (not supported upstream or maintained).
> > > > Use syslinux (installer) or grub2 (manually).
> > > >
> > >
> > > I appreciate these comments and gather syslinux might be a better
> > > solution than grub, and will look into it.
> > >
> > > However, I would like to point out that grub (legacy) is still the
> > > recommended bootloader solution in the beginner's guide, and in the
> > > installer isos. Furthermore, grub legacy is the one in core, whereas
> > > grub2 is in extra. I think that it is prematurate to cripple the
> > > installation of a bootloader just because it is not maintained
> > > upstream, until we have a better replacement. If really grub legacy
> > > is bad, then we should phase it out and replace it with a better
> > > one, which should be the new default. Why not replace grub legacy
> > > with grub2 in the core repository and in the installer?
> > >
> > > > Installing grub to a partition is an uncommon setup and used by
> > > > few users, Those who really want to install grub to a partition
> > > > can do so manually.
> > >
> > > Well, that is against the KISS principle. The fact it is uncommon is
> > > irrelevant for a distro like Arch, which is not suppose to hide
> > > options for their own good (especially when users report having used
> > > the partition installation with no problem).
> > >
> > > Eric
> >
> > my toughts:
> > 1) general rule: don't prevent users from doing dumb things, it also
> > prevents doing them from smart things. it's not our job to impose
> > methods or configurations on users (although we can and should make
> > recommendations) AIF is an "enabler", it should enable users to set
> > up their system how they want it.  So even if we are aware that
> > installing grub in partitions can sometimes give issues, that's not a
> > reason to make it extra hard for the user to do it, because
> > apparently it does work for some people. We should just put a
> > recommendation in the selection menu to prefer the device itself
> > instead of a partition, and that the grub install might fail if you
> > do it in a partition. 2) saying "if you want this, do it manually"
> > defeats the point. 3) I understand Thomas' points, but in reality, I
> > agree that having multiple bootloaders (i.e. one in mbr, one in
> > partition), can make it easier to deal with distro's that happily
> > auto-rewrite bootloader or bootloader configs. 4) I disagree with the
> > "Listing all the block devices and partitions becomes hard to read."
> > argument. Anyone who wants to install Arch should be at the very
> > least mentally capable to deal with such a list.
> >
> >
> > Dieter
>
> okay so i'll change aif again so that you can install grub on a partition,
> though with a note that we don't recommend it.
>
> Btw, does anyone know if you can install grub on a blockdevice (full
> disk/partition/DM device) which is part of an lvm/softraid setup?
>
> Dieter
>