[syslinux] GFXBoot & PXELinux

[a178235]

Mr. Anvin, I think implementing gfxboot as a com32 module is the right solution, as long as it still works with vesamenu.c32 and I understand you don’t have time to write a gfxboot.c32 module, but I can see that the person who does accomplish this will get some praises from a lot of people. I think having a unified look and feel booting from different media would help the Linux cause a lot. As far as a unified core kernel, my thinking was that any change to a unified kernel that supported different media would help eliminate some patches being implemented in one kernel and not the other. A unified kernel would detect what type of media it was starting from and branch appropriately, although this would increase the memory footprint used, but at the benefit of universal support.
  Some of the things that I hear people wanting to be implemented is x86/x64 detection so that variables can be used in menus. Resolution of the Dell OptiPlex GX620 keyboard issue, which I personally experience, but consider a minor issue. While I can’t ship you a GX620, I could make it available if I had some solution like a Bomgar Box. Perhaps someone already has both and could offer you remote access to it. We may be purchasing KVM that has remote access which would also work.

"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa at zytor.com> wrote:  a178235 wrote:
> I understand the reasoning behind not integrating the dirty gfxboot patch into isolinux and pxelinux, but with many of the major distributions implementing gfxboot, it would be nice for a seamless boot interface across syslinux, isolinux and pxelinux so that the same menu file, look and feel, can be used to boot from the hard drive, USB thumb drive, floppy, or PXE. With isolinux being the primary method of Linux distributions, and more companies adopting Linux, it would make sense that the same method be used by CD’s and PXE boot would help the Linux adoption. Additionally, integrating syslinux, isolinux, and pxelinux into one unified syslinux that support all boot methods may make sense, but I don’t know all of the technical hurdles that would need to be resolved.
> 
> Is there currently ANY solution that would allow for a gfxboot splash screen using PXE?

The best would be if someone would offer to reimplement gfxboot as a 
com32 module. However, *I* don't have time for it.

There are other problems with gfxboot, too (no transparent serial 
console support, complex byte-coded stuff)

syslinux, extlinux, pxelinux, and isolinux *are* by and large 
integrated; you still need different images for different filesystems so 
integrating them any more than they really are doesn't make a whole lot 
of sense. The core (kernel, if you will) is medium-specific, but the 
com32 modules are totally media-independent.

-hpa

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