[syslinux] 5.00pre11 initial comments

[Gene Cumm]

On Nov 28, 2012 8:57 AM, "Ady" <ady-sf at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Initial comments about 5.00-pre11.
>
> 1_ Using ctrl+v at the boot prompt:
>
>  SYSLINUX 5.00 5.00-pre11CHS Copyright ...
>
> Initial copyright notice when booting to Syslinux prompt:
>
>  SYSLINUX 5.00 CHS 5.00-pre11 Copyright ...
>
> Request: make the ctrl+v result to be shown as the initial copyright
> notice (including order and space characters).
>
>
> 2_ Hello.c32 is still behaving differently than in 4.06.
>
> Either it doesn't show anything (I'll skip the details for such case
> for now), or it shows something like:
>
> Hello world, from 0x001FA200! malloc return 0x001fb450
>
> and when repeating hello.c32 from the prompt, part of the values are
> different each time.
>
> Please clarify if the new behavior is the new expected one, or find
> the reason to the changed behavior.

Does 4.06 show the same value each iteration for you?

> Having an unexpected behavior in hello.c32 could potentially mean
> that "something" is not quite right.
>
>
> 3_ The initial boot prompt is shown at an inadequate line in the
> screen.
>
> For example, the first line of a DISPLAY file is not seen, because
> the prompt uses that same line. The prompt should appear AFTER the
> end of the DISPLAY file.

Do you mean the first or last?  If the last line is effectively mangled/not
shown, try putting a trailing new line in the file.

> 4_ When using cat.c32 to display the content of a file, if the
> content is just one line (and less than the screen width), then the
> content is not being displayed.
>
> In 4.06, the behavior is not ideal either. The less-than-one-line
> file is displayed, and the prompt shows in the same line after the
> content is displayed.
>
> Extending the test to display (with cat.c32) a file with multiple
> lines, it can be concluded that the boot prompt is displayed in the
> same last line of the file that was displayed with cat.c32.

This behavior is commonly seen on *nix systems also.  If it were not for
the next paragraph, I'd suggest instead a new COM32 that drops a new line
in, either unconditionally or only if none detected.

> In 4.06, the prompt is shown _after_ the end of the last line, in the
> same line. In 5.00pre11, the boot prompt is shown at the start of the
> same last line, hiding the last line of the displayed file.

I agree it's peculiar.

> I don't know if this behavior is happening with cat.c32 only (I think
> it is NOT the only case), or if it happens in other circumstances too
> (like with other modules or with DISPLAY files for example).
>
> I think the correct behavior should be to show the prompt in the
> _next_ line, not in the same last line. Hopefully this request has no
> unwanted effect when using [vesa]menu.c32 and "MENU *ROW*"
> directives.
>
>
> To replicate all the above, boot 4.06 and 5.00-pre11 and observe the
> initial (DISPLAY) screen and the initial prompt line, and then
> execute each label from the following:
>
>    *** SYSLINUX.CFG START ***
> DEFAULT hello1
> PROMPT 0
> F1 help1.txt
> DISPLAY help1.txt
> LABEL hello1
> COM32 hello.c32
> LABEL cat1
> COM32 cat.c32
> APPEND help1.txt
> LABEL cat2
> COM32 cat.c32
> APPEND help2.txt
>    *** SYSLINUX.CFG END ***
>
>    *** HELP1.TXT START ***
> LINE 1 OF HELP1.TXT
> LINE 2 OF HELP1.TXT
> LINE 3 OF HELP1.TXT
> LINE 4 OF HELP1.TXT
>    *** HELP1.TXT END ***
>
>    *** HELP2.TXT START ***
> LINE 1 OF HELP2.TXT
>    *** HELP2.TXT END ***
>
> I'll continue with additional tests of 5.00-pre11 and report
> accordingly. Hopefully in the mean time some of the above can be
> addressed.
>
> TIA,
> Ady.
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