[syslinux] Problem booting from CF/SD cards and USB Flashdrives using syslinux

c.lee111 at gmail.com c.lee111 at gmail.com
Thu Aug 23 10:30:56 PDT 2007


On Mon, 20 Aug 2007, H. Peter Anvin wrote:

> c.lee111 at gmail.com wrote:
> > 
> > What I'm wondering though is was I in fact running into a variation of 
> > the bug that older versions of lilo had with hard drives that fdisk 
> > mentioned with syslinux, and would it be possible to do the same 
> > kind of fix that the newer versions of lilo did to get around it for 
> > syslinux?
> > 
> 
> I have no idea what bug you're talking about.
> 
> 	-hpa
>

This one. It only applied to really old versions of lilo  from before
2000 or so and was fixed in newer versions of lilo ages ago.

Here is a article that talks about the LILO bug I was talking about.

*************************************************************************


    "The Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"
     _________________________________________________________________

            (?)-[qbubble.gif] The Answer Guy (!)-[bbubble.gif] 

               By James T. Dennis, tag at lists.linuxgazette.net
                    LinuxCare, http://www.linuxcare.com/
     _________________________________________________________________

(?) Keeping Both Hard Drives Connected

                  New LILO Overcomes 1024 Cylinder Limit!

   From Crazy Weirdo on Thu, 23 Mar 2000 

   Answer Guy, 

   I  just  bought  a  new  hard  drive for my pc. I put Linux on it. The
   problem  with  that  is  i cant keep both hard drives connected at the
   same  time  unless i keep changing the jumpers. Is there a way to make
   LILO boot windows while its on another HDD....if so...how is it done? 

   This  is  a  test of the Weirdo e-mail system. Had this been an actual
   e-mail  you  would  have become extremely hostile towards me and other
   users of the internet, but just relax and realize that this was just a
   test. 

   Weirdo 

     (!) I presume that these are IDE hard drives. It doesn't matter too
     much, but there wouldn't be this problem with SCSI.

     Anyway,  LILO  will  load an OS off of any drive and partition that
     the  BIOS  can see. I've heard that a new version finally overcomes
     the  classic  old  1024 cylinder limit that's been plaguing it (and
     us) for so long.

     Oddly  enough  this  is  one of the few software upgrades that I've
     seen    recently    that   I   couldn't   find   at   Freshmeat.net
     (http://www.freshmeat.net)

     Another  good  place  to  look  for  open  source and free software
     release announcements is Appwatch (http://www.appwatch.com). Here's
     the one for the latest LILO:

     LILO 21.4.1 (John D. Rowell) 20000321 22:45 GMT

   Changes: Since v21: Will boot from disks up to 2048Gb in size, as long
   as  the  BIOS  allows  the  Enhanced  BIOS  calls  for  32-bit  sector
   addressing  using  packet  calls; Checks if BIOS supports packet calls
   (int 0x13, AH=0x42), and uses these calls if 'lba32' was specified.

   Otherwise,  it uses the C:H:S addressing scheme of the original IBM-PC
   BIOS;  the  disk  read  routine is separated into its own source file,
   "read.S",  which  is  included  in  the  first-stage, and second-stage
   loader  codes.  The  first stage loader uses a very stripped down read
   routine,  since it only deals in single sector transfers; if BIOS does
   not  support  32-bit  packet calls, and the cylinder address overflows
   when  the 32-bit address is converted to C:H:S, then a "9f" error code
   is  issued;  map compaction of 'lba32' addresses is supported with the
   existing  '-c' switch (or 'compact' configuration file global option);
   floppy  disks  now  will always fall back to C:H:S addressing; changed
   the -v option to now accept a single digit to set the verbosity level;
   e.g.,  'lilo  -v 5 ...' replaces 'lilo -v -v -v -v -v ...' for maximum
   diagnostic output;

   LILO version information is moved to the file 'version.h', and VERSION
   is  now  deleted.  This allows for tracking of VERSION_MAJOR (=21) and
   VERSION_MINOR (=3) for this and future code paths;

   Inspired  by  'dparam.com', a much more extensive BIOS test program is
   included  with this version. Called 'disk.com', it was developed under
   DOS, and requires 'nasm' to be assembled; DISK.COM will probe the BIOS
   for disks supported by the BIOS, and report on their CHS geometry.

   If  EDD is supported, the EDD geometry is also reported. If disks with
   cylinder  numbers  of  1024  or  above  are  detected, it will issue a
   recommendation  to  use  LILO with the 'lba32' option. Creation of the
   bootable  floppy  image  version of this utility is incomplete at this
   time.  Fixed:  bug  in 'read.S' that disabled the combination 'linear'
   with 'compact' ( '-l' and '-c' together). Added: the '-L' command line
   switch and 'lba32' configuration file global option.

   Note: Currently only available here. Console / System (BSD)

     (http://www.appwatch.com/Linux/Users/history?app_id=46&vty_id=S)

     What  all  of that goobledygook means is that LILO has been updated
     to  handle  these  HUGE  drives without forcing us to have a little
     partition  below  the  1024 cylinder line that used to be the upper
     limit  on  PC  hard  drive sizes. (Read some of my back issue rants
     about LILO to get more info on that then you want to hear).

     So, back to your question:

     If you have a LILO conf like this:

              boot = /dev/hda
              root = /dev/hda1
              prompt

              image = /boot/vmlinuz-2.3.99pre3
                      read-only
                      append="devfs=nomount"
                      label = new

              image = /boot/vmlinuz-2.2.14
                      read-only
                      label = cur

              image = /boot/vmlinuz-2.0.38
                      read-only
                      label = old

              other = /dev/hdb1
                      label = dos

     You should be able to have both drives co-exist. You should be able
     to use LILO to boot any of the three Linux kernels (new, cur(rent),
     and  old)  or  your MS-DOS/Win'9x by simply typing any one of those
     three-letter keywords (stanza labels) at the LILO prompt.

     Note  that  the "other" directive points to /dev/hdb1 --- the first
     partition  on  the  second  IDE  hard  drive  on  your  primary IDE
     controller.  That  might  be  /dev/hdc1  (master  hard drive on the
     secondary  controller)  or  even  /dev/hdd1  (slave  drive  on  the
     secondary  contoller).  That  all  depends  on  how your drives are
     physically  connected,  and  if  you have an IDE CD-ROM and how its
     connected.  Of course it might be in some other partition on any of
     these  drives.  You BIOS might only allow you to boot from /dev/hda
     and /dev/hdb (first two drives on the primary controller).

     I'm  once  again  going  to point to LOADLIN.EXE. Search through my
     archives here at Linux Gazette:

     Search

     ...  to  review  what I've said about this before. My basic rule of
     thumb is: "If you have to ask about making MS-DOS and/or MS-Win '9x
     co-exist with Linux --- USE LOADLIN.EXE!"

     It  just  works.  No  muss!  No fuss! No worrying about what drive,
     partition,  or  cylinder your kernel is on. The object of this game
     is  to  get  the  Linux kernel (and maybe an initial RAM disk) into
     memory,  and  jump  into  the  kernel image's entry point (possibly
     passing  it  a list of command line arguments). Once you've managed
     that,  then  the  Linux kernel can take care of all the other fussy
     details  about finding and mounting its root filesystem and driving
     its  hardware.  (The  kernel  doesn't  need the BIOS for any normal
     operations --- though there is some minor device configuration that
     the  kernel expects is already done before it got loaded. Linux has
     its  own  32-bit  native drivers for all PC/x86 hardware). (I guess
     there  are  some  PCI  BIOS32  and  APM functions that are actually
     handled by modern BIOS' --- but I don't know the details).
     _________________________________________________________________

                     Copyright © 2000, James T. Dennis
             Published in The Linux Gazette Issue 52 April 2000

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