Date: Fri, 10 May 2002 07:38:42 -0700 From: Julian Elischer <julian@elischer.org> To: Gordon Tetlow <gordont@gnf.org> Cc: Michael Smith <msmith@mass.dis.org>, hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: nextboot loader diff Message-ID: <3CDBDB72.FC3C9CB7@elischer.org> References: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0205091245420.558-100000@smtp.gnf.org>
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Gordon Tetlow wrote:
>
> On Thu, 9 May 2002, Michael Smith wrote:
>
> > > I've finally learned enough forth to put together a diff to implement some
> > > nextboot functionality in the loader.
> > >
> > > Basically, the loader peeks into the first line of /boot/nextboot.conf to
> > > see if nextboot_enable="YES" is there. If it is, it reads the entire
> > > config, then rewrites the first line to nextboot_enable="NO"
> >
> > Don't do this. Put the variables directly into loader.conf. There's no
> > need for another file.
>
> There needs to be another file regardless. How else am I going to know
> which are supposed to be used on the next boot and which are normal values
> that the user has put in /boot/loader.conf?
I wrote the original 'nextboot to use block 1 (ususally unused)
to avoid under all circumstances writing into the filesystem.
Also, part of the weakness of the current system is that it presumes you know
which IS the root filesystem. The original nextboot took as part of the
information it loaded from block 1 (assumuing it checked out as a boot-spec
block) the partition to use as the root. If the root partition is totally hosed
you may not be able to READ /boot/{anything}. The original nextboot
was really a local hack to fix a local problem, but I was thinking of making it
more
'acceptable' to the world as a whole by making it look for a DOS partition of
some type, and {length 1,location 1} before loading information.
I deliberatly kept this information outside the filesystem.
>
> -gordon
>
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