[syslinux] Manually installing syslinux?

Frederic Pasteleurs masterfrd at tiscalinet.be
Wed Jun 30 00:29:17 PDT 2004


> I am wondering if it is possible to install syslinux manually, without
> the actual syslinux utility.
>
> Basically I have a little linux distro that uses syslinux.  I have an
> automated upgrade system that also updates the bootloader before
> rebooting.  I currently compile syslinux (and mtools) statically, so
> that the new syslinux will not depend on any libraries on the old
> software version (since they may be different than what it was compiled
> with).
>
> This was OK until I realized that if I change the kernel compatibility
> level when I build glibc, syslinux still may not run on the older host
> systems to do the bootloader update.
>
> So basically I want to see if there is a (stable) way to install
> syslinux manually.  By manually, I mean using utilities on the old host
> version that I know are there (like dd, cp, mount), and not using any
> utilities I compiled for the new os version (so I won't run into kernel
> version compatibility errors).
>
> I was thinking something like:
>
> mount /boot r/w
> copy ldlinux.sys to /boot
> umount /boot
>
> dd something to the device file for the /boot partition.
>
> I can do the ldlinux.sys thing easy (since it looks like the same file
> is unmodified in the tarball as gets installed by syslinux itself), but
> I am undertain what to write at the start of the partition.
>
> Is this possible & a good idea?

There's no need to reinvent the weel !! :-)

A static syslinux-nomtools is the way to go, since it does everything you
describe but without the use of the mtools utility.





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