[syslinux] Linux software RAID 1.2 superblocks

[H. Peter Anvin]

On 06/11/2010 11:14 AM, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> On 06/11/2010 10:21 AM, Ferenc Wagner wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Just to bring one more Debian concern to the Syslinux table: the default
>> metadata format in upstream mdadm changed to 1.2, which means MD
>> superblocks at the beginning of the partition, after a 4 KB hole.
>>
>> Is our favorite bootloader prepared to handle such situations?
> 
> Ah, good, they did un-break the universe -- for a while there the
> default was 1.1, which can't support partition-centric bootloading at all.
> 
> Syslinux itself can handle it, but it will need a special boot sector
> (or special MBR, in case the entire disk in an mdraid -- I think the
> same code might work for both but I haven't tested it all yet) installed
> onto the mdraid.  I haven't written that code, but it shouldn't take
> very long.
> 

Thought some more about it today, and the main trick is to make it
user-friendly which means adding support to the installer.  I'm touching
some of that code already, and I might have time to implement it over
the weekend.

	-hpa

-- 
H. Peter Anvin, Intel Open Source Technology Center
I work for Intel.  I don't speak on their behalf.