Grub2config replaces Grub4Dos

[amethyst]

@shinobar - Thanks for the explanation.

[April]

Code: Select all

grub> ls -l 

this code does not work for me ? What am I missing please

This is for Grub. Pressing 'c' from a grub boot menu will drop you to the 'grub>' command line prompt. Typing 'ls' (list) dash plus lowercase 'L' (ps -l) should display all the disks the BIOS can detect.

I do not believe the 'ls' command works with Grub4Dos.

But where is "Pressing 'c' from a grub boot menu" . typing the command in a terminal gets into grub
typing "c" gives an error

Code: Select all

root# grub
Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.

       [ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported.   For
         the   first   word,  TAB  lists  possible  command
         completions.  Anywhere else TAB lists the possible
         completions of a device/filename. ]
grub> c
c

Error 27: Unrecognized command

[Jafadmin]

@April -- Ok, I see where you're at now.

So this is about when you are in the process of booting a puppy computer. You get that initial Grub4Dos boot menu, or the Grub2 boot menu. Before that menu times out and boots the default menu entry, pressing 'c' will drop you out to a grub prompt that looks like 'grub>', not 'root#'.

It is from that prompt that you type: 'ls -l'.

If you want to find UUID's from a fully booted puppy:

Code: Select all

root# blkid | grep /dev/sd

from the console should get that for you.

[bigpup]

I am being lazy and have not looked at all posts.
But this is info for the first post.

Will Grub2config find all installed operating systems and make a boot menu entry for all?

I see this in the first post:

Only one case the Grub2config does not support:
When you clean install Ubuntu Linux and/or derivatives on a legacy BIOS PC, the partition sda1 is ext4 formatted. See viewtopic.php?f=155&t=3931

Any chance this is the ext4 (64bit) issue that Grub4dos config has?
If the ext4 is 64bit it is not correctly seen.

How to fix Grub4DOS Error 13, wee 13>, due to 64-bit Ext4
https://oldforum.puppylinux.com/viewtop ... 929bf1&i=2

I think, ext4 (64bit) is a general problem for Puppy, in software that works with formatted devices.

[shinobar]

Will Grub2config find all installed operating systems and make a boot menu entry for all?

Yes. Grub2config supports filesystems listed on the document inclusing ext4(64bit).
Only the case the 1st partition is ext4(32/64bit) formatted, Grub2config does not support.

Grub2 supports ext4(64bit), but the Grub4Dos not.
Grub2config uses Grub2, but the Grub2 is booted up by the grub.mbr, a component of Grub4Dos. The grub.mbr cannot handle ext4(32/64bit).

A solution is to install grub2 itself in the mbr. I like to try in the future.

[bigpup]

I am not sure how close this is to a normal Grub2 boot loader.

When a Use the Grub2 boot loader that is provided by Frugalpup Installer by gyrog.
If there is at least two partitions on the drive.

1st partition a small 300MB, fat 32 format, flagged boot.
2nd or more partitions any other formats.
(but Gparted in Puppy, only makes ext4 32bit)

Put the Grub2 files on the 1st partition.
Puppy or other installs on the 2nd or other partitions.

To the best of my knowledge about Grub2.
All the Grub2 files are just on the 1st partition. I do not think anything is in MBR if there is a MBR.
All computers seem to see the 1st fat32 partition as the boot partition.

But if another Linux OS installer sets up the drive the way it likes it.
I guess your Grub2config has to deal with that.

[shinobar]

All computers seem to see the 1st fat32 partition as the boot partition.

@bigpup
You are mostly right regarding UEFI boot. It is more complex with legacy BIOS.

[mikewalsh]

Well, now....

I thought I'd give this a try. Reason being that my sole "mainstream" distro, ZorinOS, which I've been using for years, has always been run from a USB 3.0 flash drive; GRUB2 installed to the flash drive's MBR, then booted via chainloading from Puppy's Grub4DOS.

I've never been able to figure out how to combine mainstream AND Puppy 'multi-booting' on the same drive, so I thought I'd give this a try. It definitely works..! Multiple Pups running from dedicated directories on sda2.....and ZorinOS running from a newly-created 3rd partition on sdb (a 3 TB HDD).

Shino, I take my hat off to ya, mate. Excellent work, mi amigo. This is much appreciated, and a very valuable addition to the kennels.

Nice one, buddy. Awarded Mike's "seal of approval"; yes, indeedy..!

Mike.

[williwaw]

I've never been able to figure out how to combine mainstream AND Puppy 'multi-booting' on the same drive, so I thought I'd give this a try. It definitely works..! Multiple Pups running from dedicated directories on sda2.....and ZorinOS running from a newly-created 3rd partition on sdb (a 3 TB HDD).

Shino, I take my hat off to ya, mate. Excellent work, mi amigo. This is much appreciated, and a very valuable addition to the kennels.

Nice one, buddy. Awarded Mike's "seal of approval"; yes, indeedy..!

Mike. ;)

Mike,

Glad you got it working the way you like.

To clarify, you are booting from sda1, where grub2config is installed? Puppies in sda2.
Is grub2config also installed on sdb? maybe sdb1? Your Zorin being possibly sdb3?

Pasting your grub.config to a code display would be appreciated. tx.

[Clarity]

Hello @williwaw
This thread's utility is a PET you install on a running PUP.

When you want/need to "update" your PC drive/stick's Boot stanzas, you run this tool to discover OSes on the system and change what is seen at boot time. Then when the drive/stick is booted, it will show the update selections.

Hope this is helpful info.
P.S. If you want to use this utility in multiple PUPs/distros, you will need to install it in each.

[williwaw]

When you want/need to "update" your PC drive/stick's Boot stanzas, you run this tool to discover OSes on the system and change what is seen at boot time. Then when the drive/stick is booted, it will show the update selections.

Hopefully, this is the only thing Mike needed to do. Finding other OS's besides puppies is a nice feature. Are there limitations of what other OS's grub2config can find?

[mikewalsh]

@williwaw :-

To clarify, you are booting from sda1, where grub2config is installed? Puppies in sda2.
Is grub2config also installed on sdb? maybe sdb1? Your Zorin being possibly sdb3?

Pasting your grub.config to a code display would be appreciated. tx.

Okey-dokey. Now, then:-

Sda - primary drive- 1 TB (MBR/ms-dos)
Sdb - secondary drive - 3 TB (used to be the guts of a Seagate external 'desktop' drive before I cannabilized it) : GPT, because it's over 2 TB in size

----------------------------------------

• Sda1 is 256 MB in size - FAT32 : Boot partition (bootloaders are only installed here).

• Sda2 is around 350 GB in size : The "kennels" (currently hosting half-a-dozen heavily customized Pups).

• Sda3 is around 550 GB : contains all of my 'portable' apps, browsers, AppImages, assorted other applications.....many sym-linked into multiple Puppies.

• Sda4 is 16 GB of 'swap'.

--------------------------------------

• Sdb1 is 1 TB in size : contains all the software and items I've ever downloaded for Puppy and other distros.

• Sdb2 is 1.5 TB in size : contains all my personal data - movies, music, documents, pix/images, etc, etc. Also a lot of other odds'n'ends.

• Sdb3 is newly-created, and 100 GB in size. Just installed Zorin OS 16 'Core' earlier today. I always leave around 10-15% of any drive unformatted, because you never know what you might need it for..! When drives are this size or larger, that still gives you an awful lot of usable storage space, no?

• Sdb4 is another 48 GB of 'swap' - necessary, because with 32 GB RAM, when I suspend, this HP insists on mirroring the entire amount of RAM to a single location, even when there's not much in it. It doesn't like splitting this up between smaller swap areas; if it does, invariably it won't wake-up again properly. This is HP's doing, not mine.

-------------------------------------

I copied the original Grub4DOS contents of sda1 across to a 'safe' location earlier today (just in case!), while I was in Bionicpup64. I then deleted the originals. I installed GRUB2config, then ran it. This is the contents of 'grub.cfg' (sda1 is now pure GRUB2config stuff, except for whatever Shino has had to use here when he built it):-

Code: Select all

# grub.cfg produced by grub2config 2.0.1
set default=0
set timeout=10
set menu_color_normal=white/blue
set menu_color_highlight=black/yellow

loadfont $prefix/fonts/DejaVuSansMono18.pf2
set gfxmode=auto
insmod all_video
insmod gfxterm
terminal_output gfxterm

# Puppy Linux

menuentry 'Bionicpup64 (sda2/Bionicpup64)'{
  search --no-floppy --set=root --fs-uuid 0ee0f8be-07f3-4e5b-b3c3-2554fae39a3e
  linux /Bionicpup64/vmlinuz    psubdir=/Bionicpup64 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
  initrd /Bionicpup64/initrd.gz
}

menuentry 'Bionicpup64 (sda2/Bionicpup64) RAM mode'{
  search --no-floppy --set=root --fs-uuid 0ee0f8be-07f3-4e5b-b3c3-2554fae39a3e
  linux /Bionicpup64/vmlinuz    psubdir=/Bionicpup64 pfix=ram
  initrd /Bionicpup64/initrd.gz
}

menuentry 'Fossapup64 (sda2/Fossapup64)'{
  search --no-floppy --set=root --fs-uuid 0ee0f8be-07f3-4e5b-b3c3-2554fae39a3e
  linux /Fossapup64/vmlinuz    psubdir=/Fossapup64 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
  initrd /Fossapup64/initrd.gz
}

menuentry 'Quirky64 7.0.1 (sda2/Quirky7_64_lite)'{
  search --no-floppy --set=root --fs-uuid 0ee0f8be-07f3-4e5b-b3c3-2554fae39a3e
  linux /Quirky7_64_lite/vmlinuz    psubdir=/Quirky7_64_lite pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
  initrd /Quirky7_64_lite/initrd.gz
}

menuentry 'Xenialpup64 (sda2/Xenialpup64)'{
  search --no-floppy --set=root --fs-uuid 0ee0f8be-07f3-4e5b-b3c3-2554fae39a3e
  linux /Xenialpup64/vmlinuz    psubdir=/Xenialpup64 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
  initrd /Xenialpup64/initrd.gz
}

menuentry 'Slacko 5.7.1 (sda2/Slacko_571)'{
  search --no-floppy --set=root --fs-uuid 0ee0f8be-07f3-4e5b-b3c3-2554fae39a3e
  linux /Slacko_571/vmlinuz    psubdir=/Slacko_571 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
  initrd /Slacko_571/initrd.gz
}

menuentry 'Xenialpup 7.5 (sda2/Xenial32)'{
  search --no-floppy --set=root --fs-uuid 0ee0f8be-07f3-4e5b-b3c3-2554fae39a3e
  linux /Xenial32/vmlinuz    psubdir=/Xenial32 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
  initrd /Xenial32/initrd.gz
}

# Other Linux

menuentry 'Zorin OS Core 16 (sdb3/boot)'{
  search --no-floppy --set=root --fs-uuid 26848e87-056e-4205-9c85-b59555fbc007
	configfile /boot/grub/grub.cfg
}

if [ $grub_platform = "efi" ] ; then
menuentry 'UEFI Firmware Settings'{
	fwsetup
}
fi

	# custom menu
	if [ -f /custom.cfg ] ;then source /custom.cfg ;fi

Hope ya find that enlightening..! The order's not quite the same as when it was first created; I've re-ordered them to suit my own preferences. GRUB2 likes to order things alphabetically; I like to keep 64-bitzers together at the top, followed by 32-bitzers after these.

Mike.

[mikewalsh]

@shinobar :-

Oh, crap. That's a bit of a bugger, and no mistake...

Purely by chance, I made an unfortunate discovery last night. I was attempting to access the UEFI/BIOS on this HP - I wanted to check something - and I simply couldn't. This is accessed via F10 here. It didn't want to know, despite repeated attempts...

I also tried accessing the "one-time boot menu", from 'Esc'. Nada. Nowt. Zilch. It, too, was completely inaccessible (I thought of this since it has a shortcut to the BIOS).

Well, to my mind, a machine where you can't access the default stuff is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Don't get me wrong; GRUB2config is working beautifully.....but somehow, it seems to be blocking me from accessing the contents of the ROM chip. Ever hear of that before?

For now, I've reverted to the original contents of sda1, which is all Grub4DOS. I have copies of sda1's contents, both as Grub4DOS AND GRUB2config, so it's simple to swap 'em over. For now, the BIOS and one-time boot menu are once again available.

So; any thoughts..? I'm just thinking, I may not be the only Puppian who perhaps comes up against this barrier.....might be worth looking-into ?

Mike.

[bigpup]

If you want to test something.
Go back to using Grub2config boot loader.
When you press the computer power button to power up.
At the same time.
Also press and hold the F10 key.
Do not release F10 until the UEFI setup screen pops up.

Any change to getting into the UEFI setup?

Also if the UEFI setup has option fast boot.
Disable it.

Also look in the UEFI setup for option to change time period it hangs (delays) before proceeding to continue the boot process.
That is the time it gives, to allow you to press F10 or other option keys, and have it do something.

[mikewalsh]

@bigpup :-

Also look in the UEFI setup for option to change time period it hangs (delays) before proceeding to continue the boot process.
That is the time it gives, to allow you to press F10 or other option keys, and have it do something.

I tried everything you suggested, mate, but the quoted item might contain the clue. I have noticed that when it comes up, the standard GRUB2 menu appears for a split-second, then Shino's new Menu immediately appears.

A timeout might be what's needed. I'll investigate, and report back.

Cheers!

Mike.

[shinobar]

I have noticed that when it comes up, the standard GRUB2 menu appears for a split-second, then Shino's new Menu immediately appears.

If you install boot loader using Grub2config on a legacy BIOS PC, boot up process is like this:
grub.mbr --> /grldr --> /menu.lst --> /boot.pup/grub/i386-pc/core.img --> /boot.pup/grub/grub.cfg --> /grub.cfg
The files /menu.lst and /boot.pup/grub/grub.cfg has setting 'timeout=0'. You can change the timeout settings and can see the Grub4Dos and Grub2 primitive menu.
But they are not concern with the timeout entering the BIOS setting.

[bigpup]

Sorry, I have to ask to be sure.
F10 key is correct key to access UEFI setup?
HP help says it could be one of these:
F10, F2, F12, F1, or DEL.

Sure it does not have this way to get options?
Example:

Screenshot.jpg (38.32 KiB) Viewed 10165 times

.
.
When a computer boots.
1. The computers UEFI or Legacy bios basically turns on the hardware.
It also does some checks of the hardware.
If fast boot or something similarly named setting, is enabled in the UEFI setup.
The hardware checks, are not done, and taken for granted, the hardware is working OK.

2. Then turns over booting, to whatever boot loader is installed, to run the OS boot process.

Did you ever find a time setting in the UEFI setup, to control time period it hangs (delays), before proceeding to continue the boot process?
If yes.
Did you change it to a longer amount of time?

If you are doing everything correctly to access the UEFI setup.
I am having a hard time understanding how the boot loader could have any affect on blocking access to the UEFI setup.

The UEFI firmware boot process, should be always providing a small amount of time, to enter a UEFI option.
Access UEFI setup.
Access the boot device selection list.
Etc.....

[mikewalsh]

@bigpup :-

Mm.

HP nearly always trim their BIOS/UEFI stuff down to the bare minimum. There IS no option for "delaying" the boot process.

Yes, F10 IS the UEFI access key on this machine. I've used it enough times since getting this desktop 20 months ago, so I should know..!

Esc is the 'Startup Menu' access key on this machine. It, too, refuses to function under GRUB2config.

I don't understand it either. Almost the first thing I did when I got this rig in January of last year was to reset everything that needed changing in the UEFI to accommodate Puppy, and I've had no reason to modify anything since.

I'm more than happy to stick with Grub4DOS; with that, I have the option to boot direct from a flash-drive anyway, and experience has shown that this option works equally well with Puppies AND 'mainstream' distros, assuming I take the trouble to prepare each drive correctly to start with..!

Mike.

[Jafadmin]

Well, to my mind, a machine where you can't access the default stuff is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Don't get me wrong; GRUB2config is working beautifully.....but somehow, it seems to be blocking me from accessing the contents of the ROM chip. Ever hear of that before?

@mikewalsh, Try disconnecting ALL disks and see if you can get into the BIOS. If you cannot, there is some kind of HP anomaly. Maybe it wants the BIOS firmware to be on the HD?

But no, bootloader cannot preempt BIOS. It's the BIOS that loads the bootloader.

But anyways, when we need to troubleshoot a problem, it's sometimes best to strip it down and start re-assembling from the beginning, testing at each step.

[mikewalsh]

@Jafadmin :-

Well, to my mind, a machine where you can't access the default stuff is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Don't get me wrong; GRUB2config is working beautifully.....but somehow, it seems to be blocking me from accessing the contents of the ROM chip. Ever hear of that before?

@mikewalsh, Try disconnecting ALL disks and see if you can get into the BIOS. If you cannot, there is some kind of HP anomaly. Maybe it wants the BIOS firmware to be on the HD?

But no, bootloader cannot preempt BIOS. It's the BIOS that loads the bootloader.

But anyways, when we need to troubleshoot a problem, it's sometimes best to strip it down and start re-assembling from the beginning, testing at each step.

Oh, I couldn't agree more, Jafa. That IS the way to check things when you troubleshoot. You strip right down, and then add back one thing at a time, testing to see if the problem is resolved as you go. Though I hate to admit it, I'm getting to the stage where I have neither the time, patience OR enthusiasm to go through that process any more.

GRUB2 is a nice idea, although I came to Puppy as much to get away from it as for any other reason. Too complex for my liking, though I remember you stated that much of that extra junk Canonical put in is to enable doing stuff "on-the-fly" with the Live sessions. Unfortunately, it's by far the most efficient way to boot many other distros; personally, I find it just as easy to let them set themselves up with it in the conventional way - preferably, on a separate drive (I don't like mixing stuff with the 'kennels'; it's its own separate, self-contained ecosystem that works to perfection for me as it is) - followed by chain-loading into GRUB2 from Grub4DOS.

(I'm about to re-purpose the 64GB PATA/IDE Transcend SSD out of ye anciente Dell lappie, via a 2-way SATA-to-IDE adapter. One of these:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... le_1?psc=1

It'll be easily as fast as a USB 3.0 flash drive, despite being earlier-gen NAND flash tech; it's hardly had any use, and I'm not in the habit of just throwing stuff away. The Dell is 32-bit only, P4-based (DDR1 only) and dreadfully slow. I think it's probably time to put it out to pasture (haven't used it for well over 18 months!), although I shan't throw it out. I may yet have need of it at some stage; despite being 2002-vintage, it was one of the very first machines on the market to boot from USB 2.0, so she'll still be usable even without an internal drive.)

That'll give me a third internal drive for the HP, which I'll use just for OSes. I can set it up with GRUB2 if necessary, then chainload to it from Grub4DOS on sda1...

There's way & means round every obstacle!

Mike.

[williwaw]

Esc is the 'Startup Menu' access key on this machine. It, too, refuses to function under GRUB2config.

If F10 still works and you can get into the bios setup, hopefully you can find an option to restore the default bios.

To attribute your problem to grub2 at this point may be premature, as two problems happening near the same time does not prove causality, but is only enough to create suspicion.

Should you restore your default bios and then run grub2config with a second failure,,,,,,

Should you restore your default bios, you might look around for some 'Post' configs to adjust timing. On my older HP desktop it is under a tab 'Advanced' > 'power-on options'

[Clarity]

Hi @mikewalsh

I do understand your desire to STAY AWAY from anything that has any use of GRUB2 for booting. You have been very clear in the multiple dialogues on the forum to such.

This post from me is NOT ANY ATTEMPT to change your position.

Several months ago, I made a single USB image (JUST FOR YOU) and ask that you test on your configuration. You IGNORE because of your position.

My reason in doing so it to try to ascertain the boot problem with your configuration...not to change your position. I have 4 desktop HPs and 1 laptop. None of them have any of the problems you are sharing here...and before. 1 of those is a touchscreen AIO while the laptop is a 64bit touchscreen from 2008. ALL OF THEM BOOT with the very same USB image I provided for you (just complete the same test, again). So, if is there something about a GRUB2 that is unique to your HP PC, I like to have some knowledge of that.

I ask: Would you be so kind as to try the USB image I made for you and report if it works, please?

I, for one, would like to know if this is a problem with your platform or a problem with the boot stanza occurring. Your test with a USB that DOES NOT TOUCH YOUR SYSTEM DISKS would shed some light. (Further, as I am sure you know, there is NO installation of anything to any PUP.)

My estimate for a test is a max of 10-15 minutes! Not 1 minute more. I have timed to go from download to USB creation to boot in 5 minutes. I am certain that it will not take you 10-15 minutes.

Thanks, if you can. Just trying to help!

[mikewalsh]

@Clarity :-

Drop me a link to this image, and I promise I'll take a look at it, as & when I can find the time. Can't say fairer than that.....OK?

I AM curious about one thing, though. Why this determined insistence that Puppy must start to use GRUB2? Is it because you feel Puppy has become stuck in a rut? For myself, Grub4DOS does everything I need from it; I only took a look at Shino's GRUB2config utility because I noticed the thread had been quite busy in recent days..!

Mike.

[shinobar]

I AM curious about one thing, though. Why this determined insistence that Puppy must start to use GRUB2? Is it because you feel Puppy has become stuck in a rut? For myself, Grub4DOS does everything I need from it;

Take a look my post:
viewtopic.php?p=36246#p36246

Imagine a new comer want to install Puppy on UEFI PC's and see the puppyinstaller says it does not support UEFI.
I hope Puppy easy to install and easy to use.

[bigpup]

It is really getting time to drop using the Puppy Universal Installer or someone doing some code changes to it.
It really is no longer coded, for the computers, people are now using.

[mikewalsh]

@shinobar :-

I AM curious about one thing, though. Why this determined insistence that Puppy must start to use GRUB2? Is it because you feel Puppy has become stuck in a rut? For myself, Grub4DOS does everything I need from it;

Take a look my post:
viewtopic.php?p=36246#p36246

Imagine a new comer want to install Puppy on UEFI PC's and see the puppyinstaller says it does not support UEFI.
I hope Puppy easy to install and easy to use.

Shino.....thank you, mate.

D'you know, you're the first person who's ever given me a straight-forward, easily-comprehensible answer to this question I keep posing? Everybody else keeps concentrating on the 'security' aspect, and 'ease-of-use'.....to the exclusion of everything else. Not ONE person has, until today, told me that manufacturers will soon be dropping the ability to run UEFI in 'legacy' mode.

Obviously, when that day comes we'll all have to use full, 'secure' UEFI. Either that.....or learn to go without.

Thank you for that info. It's appreciated. BTW, I have nothing against your GRUB2config; it works very well. I suspect this business of not being able to access the UEFI/startup menus is coincidental, though unrelated. It might perhaps be the CMOS battery needs replacing; I've had this rig less than 2 years, but I wouldn't like to say how long this HP had been sitting on a shelf in some warehouse before I got it.....

Mike.

[baldronicus]

Hi @mikewalsh . I am butting in where I shouldn't, and don't really have an answer to your problem. This post is because I was wondering if you might recall if you had the option to enter the UEFI BIOS setup (I know, I'm mixing things) via options in the Grub2Config menu (or maybe in one of the steps in it's process, that Shinobar has described)? I haven't used Shinobar's Grub2Config yet.
The reason for asking is that I have been using some USB drives that are based on the Fatdog64-811 usb-boot-mbr image. From Shinobar's description, it sounds like the process (at least to someone at my poor level of understanding) might be similar, and I have noticed such options being available when using the USBs. It might be that the option could be at the second last step that Shinobar mentions (which might have timeout=0).
Although it may not solve the real problem, it might present a way to enter the setup when using Grub2Config.
I don't recall encountering your problem, but then I also now try to avoid entering the setup when a USB drive is inserted, since a menu entry seems to automatically be created by the UEFI (regardless of whether it is in straight UEFI mode, or CSM mode). This might only be temporary though. I only mention it for reasons of explanation.
[Edit- I am dense. I forgot about your listing of the grub.cfg in use. There appears to be an entry for "fwsetup". I know you have reverted back to Grub4DOS, but would using that menu option have been one of the things you had tried earlier?]
Thanks.

[Clarity]

Drop me a link to this image, and I promise I'll take a look at it, as & when I can find the time

The link is merely a prior thread ... nothing changed since. If you have just a few moments. I am interested tp see if your platforms boot as all of my HPs are booting from the stick. Your observation of whether your PC does, in fact, boot; answers what I am seeking to understand. I welcome your response of boot success/failure. That image file is a very simple test without ANY PUP installation or ANY stanza manipulation. The PC test result(s) is what I hope you will share.

I AM curious about one thing, though. Why this determined insistence that Puppy must start to use GRUB2? Is it because you feel Puppy has become stuck in a rut? For myself, Grub4DOS does everything I need from it; I only took a look at Shino's GRUB2config utility because I noticed the thread had been quite busy in recent days..!

It not about GRUB2, IMHO. GRUB2 is a part of Puppy Linux for 2 years. This is about booting a PC. GRUB2 is just a vehicle we now have. A concern about GRUB2/G4D/Syslinux/etc is not the issue. The issue is booting PUPs using the vehicle it has.

...

Mike, I have tried to replicate the boot issue you have shown. Seems couple of members are trying to zero in on that. That is why I began to try to figure it out to help.

If you can find a few minutes to test that image will suggest ideas.

[LateAdopter]

Not ONE person has, until today, told me that manufacturers will soon be dropping the ability to run UEFI in 'legacy' mode.

Obviously, when that day comes we'll all have to use full, 'secure' UEFI. Either that.....or learn to go without.

Hello mikewalsh
When you need to boot from UEFI you can use Grub4DOS-UEFI. It's trivially easy to use and has the same menu.lst entries as Grub4DOS.
But it's not a topic for shinobar's thread.

When people tell you what Grub4DOS can or can't do, they are comparing a current version of Grub2 with a ten year old version of Grub4DOS.

[amethyst]

Not ONE person has, until today, told me that manufacturers will soon be dropping the ability to run UEFI in 'legacy' mode.

Obviously, when that day comes we'll all have to use full, 'secure' UEFI. Either that.....or learn to go without.

Hello mikewalsh
When you need to boot from UEFI you can use Grub4DOS-UEFI. It's trivially easy to use and has the same menu.lst entries as Grub4DOS.
But it's not a topic for shinobar's thread.

When people tell you what Grub4DOS can or can't do, they are comparing a current version of Grub2 with a ten year old version of Grub4DOS.

That's good to know. I suppose it has an existing setup config script like we have with grub4dos? Can it boot ext4 32-bit and 64-bit partitions?