[syslinux] Structure of VBR in FAT32?

[Ady Ady]

> An install on Linux (before I run "syslinux --install") actually doesn't
> have ldlinux.sys or ldlinux.bin anywhere. Are they embedded into the
> syslinux binary and it installs bytes, vs copying from the local filesystem?
> 
 
 
The command line installers have the core module and the bootloader 
file, all embedded.


If you don't have the ldlinux.sys file in your system, it would mean 
that you only have "binary" packages of SYSLINUX and/or EXTLINUX (and 
the bootloader has not been yet installed). Other Syslinux-related 
packages should include the core module (ldlinux.c32), but not 
necessarily the core bootloader file (ldlinux.sys).

The upstream official archives include both, source code and binaries, 
including ldlinux.sys.

See:

 _ www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php/Install 
 _ www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php/Library_modules 


> But wouldn't work in FAT32 (VBR = 512 bytes) or ext4 (1024 bytes in Block
> Group 0).
 
 
FWIW, the VBR in FAT32 doesn't have to be 512 bytes; FAT32 has the 
possibility to use more than one sector for boot purposes. In fact, 
Microsoft's FAT32 VBR uses at least 3 sectors (IIRC, typically, 32 
sectors).

At any rate, yes, moving ldlinux.sys within a FAT32 boot volume could 
potentially affect the boot process when using SYSLINUX. In such case, 
executing the command line installer would be the simplest/quickest 
solution.

Regards,
Ady.

PS:
@Gene, lately I have noticed that incoming emails from the Syslinux 
Mailing List are delayed; I happen to see them in the public archive 
(sometimes several hours) before they actually arrive to my email 
inbox. I don't know whether it is just my case, nor whether it is worth 
starting an email thread for such issue to be openly discussed.