[syslinux] Problems compiling syslinux on Debian 10

[Steve Rikli]

On Wed, Oct 19, 2022 at 09:38:47PM -0400, Tom Lisjac via Syslinux wrote:
> Hi Tom,
> 
> why not use or re-build the package shipped in Debian 10?
> https://packages.debian.org/buster/syslinux
> 
> Didier
> --
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion, Didier. Tried their tarball and got a different type of error for 6.04:
> ...
> 
> None of the errors I've seen look like dependency or toolchain issues. At this point it would help to know the best place to find GA releases and if someone can point to a recent version and build environment that will successfully compile it.

Hi Tom,

I don't know if this is recommended or best common practice method these
days, I think we're years past the last formal/official SYSLINUX release at
this point. I just use:

  https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Download
which points to:
  https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/Testing/6.04/

which has the files for 6.04-pre1 dated 04-Mar-2016. IME that release is
as good as it gets today and for some time now.

N.B.: I don't (re-)compile anything. I simply cp the .c32 and .efi and
other files I need to the appropriate hierarchy in my tftp server and
use them as-built.

I haven't tried to compile SYSLINUX probably since 3.x days.

It'd be nice to have a newer SYSLINUX release, with patches rolled-up
and built as an official 6.04 instead of a -pre; but I think that was
attempted and rolled-back (with -pre2 and -pre3), and further work
doesn't seem likely.

FWIW, 6.04-pre1 has been pretty functional for my needs, even with
somewhat modern EFI hardware, so I've been able to make do okay. If I
ever get seriously roadblocked I'll likely have to revisit iPXE or some
other project.

Cheers,
sr.