On Mon, Dec 31, 2007 at 02:59:59AM -0500, Pavel Roskin wrote: > Hello! > > I have adjusted grub-update to pick up initrd on Fedora. Fedora uses > different filenames. The version goes before ".img", not after, e.g. > initrd-2.6.24-rc3.img > > I'd like to get an opinion on treating old kernels. If the kernel is > installed and there is already a kernel with the same version, the > original kernel is renamed by adding ".old" to the filename. The old > initrd is not preserved. > > Currently, grub-update (more specifically, util/grub.d/10_linux.in) > treats ".old" as part of the kernel version, so it fails to find the > correspondent initrd. Therefore, an entry is created without initrd. > In case of Fedora, it won't boot unless the device files are present > on the root filesystem under /dev (they need to be copied). > > I think ".old" kernels don't need to be in the menu. The existing > entry can be edited to use the old kernel if the new kernel fails to > boot. It's not a normal situation, it's an emergence, and it's where > GTUB shines. Another approach would be to use the new initrd if the > old initrd is not found. Leaving things as is would be misleading, > because the old kernel would fail to boot on many systems, leaving a > wrong impression of safety. > > Thus, I see such options: > > 1) Don't add old kernels to the menu > > 2) Keep adding old kernels to the menu, but try harder to find the > suitable initrd for them.
I don't have a strong opinion on this, but I'd opt for trying harder. Skipping .old breaks compatibility with existing update-grub that is provided with Debian (and derivatives) for GRUB Legacy, which means there's a big userbase that has come to expect this behaviour. Not that I care much about compatibility in the proper sense of the word, but rather about output that is visible to the user. -- Robert Millan <GPLv2> I know my rights; I want my phone call! <DRM> What use is a phone call, if you are unable to speak? (as seen on /.) _______________________________________________ Grub-devel mailing list Grub-devel@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/grub-devel
