Hello all, I have a few questions about the menuing system that I haven't been able to find in the archives (it would be nice if they were available in a searchable form other than having to click on a month-by month basis and read through them - if they are searchable I would love to find a way to do this but it hasn't jumped out at me). My first question is : What is menu.c32? I see some posts of /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default in the archived threads that have simple menus and use this as the "default" entry in pxelinux.cfg/default, yet I see no label in the rest of the file named menu.c32 (I'm thinking this is not right). For example: DEFAULT menu.c32 LABEL whatever KERNEL memdisk APPEND somedosbootdisk.img I realize menu.c32 is a program (com32 style?) that is found in syslinux 3.11 under com32/modules. The question is what does it do and why should I use it? Is placing it as the default in a simple menu (as I've described above and feel is wrong) the correct way to use it? I am interested in displaying a menu of choices to users (e.g. dos ghost boot disk, linux kickstart installs, win 98 SE boot disks, etc) so that they either can select an option with enter or know what possible options exist. Using the simple menu with "prompt 1" I get what I would consider a normal LILO-like boot loader prompt: boot: However, I cannot get a list of options (labels) to display and expecting users to remember to answer "win98se_bootdisk" isn't really going to work :). This is probably a job for the advanced menus (unless my assumption that menu.c32 + a simple menu is actually for this purpose (i.e. it shows menu labels that are listed in /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default) and I don't know how to use it correctly). Let's say that I am stuck with creating an advanced (compiled com32) menu because my above assumption about menu.c32 is incorrect. So I would make the com32 menu file according to the documentation and my menu needs (no problems there). This leads me to my next question: Do I replace the entire simple menu with just one option (say for instance a label that has the newly made com32 menu as its kernel and also make that label the default)? For example: DEFAULT myfancypants LABEL myfancypants KERNEL myfancynewmenu.c32 thanks a bunch for any help clearing this up for me. Grant
On 11/3/05, Grant Gossett <ggossett at symantec.com> wrote:> Hello all, > > I have a few questions about the menuing system that I haven't been able > to find in the archives (it would be nice if they were available in a > searchable form other than having to click on a month-by month basis and > read through them - if they are searchable I would love to find a way to > do this but it hasn't jumped out at me). > > My first question is : What is menu.c32? I see some posts of > /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default in the archived threads that have simple > menus and use this as the "default" entry in pxelinux.cfg/default, yet I > see no label in the rest of the file named menu.c32 (I'm thinking this is > not right). For example: > > DEFAULT menu.c32 > > LABEL whatever > KERNEL memdisk > APPEND somedosbootdisk.img > > > I realize menu.c32 is a program (com32 style?) that is found in syslinux > 3.11 under com32/modules. The question is what does it do and why should I > use it? Is placing it as the default in a simple menu (as I've described > above and feel is wrong) the correct way to use it? I am interested in > displaying a menu of choices to users (e.g. dos ghost boot disk, linux > kickstart installs, win 98 SE boot disks, etc) so that they either can > select an option with enter or know what possible options exist. Using the > simple menu with "prompt 1" I get what I would consider a normal LILO-like > boot loader prompt: > > boot: > > However, I cannot get a list of options (labels) to display and expecting > users to remember to answer "win98se_bootdisk" isn't really going to work > :). This is probably a job for the advanced menus (unless my assumption > that menu.c32 + a simple menu is actually for this purpose (i.e. it shows > menu labels that are listed in /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default) and I don't > know how to use it correctly). > > Let's say that I am stuck with creating an advanced (compiled com32) menu > because my above assumption about menu.c32 is incorrect. So I would make > the com32 menu file according to the documentation and my menu needs (no > problems there). This leads me to my next question: > > Do I replace the entire simple menu with just one option (say for instance > a label that has the newly made com32 menu as its kernel and also make > that label the default)? For example: > > DEFAULT myfancypants > > LABEL myfancypants > KERNEL myfancynewmenu.c32 > > > thanks a bunch for any help clearing this up for me. > > Grant > > _______________________________________________ > SYSLINUX mailing list > Submissions to SYSLINUX at zytor.com > Unsubscribe or set options at: > http://www.zytor.com/mailman/listinfo/syslinux > Please do not send private replies to mailing list traffic. > >To the question about menu.c32, it's a nice little module that you can boot through syslinux and it's other incarnates which gives you a really simplistic menu. No pretty flash graphics or anything, but, it gives you nice simple little labels so the user isn't required to know exactly what to type to boot a particular item, and you don't have to create complex message files to explain to them exactly what to do. To use it, you just simply boot it like a kernel. However, it also accepts some new commands in the configuration, such as MENU LABEL under each boot item to give it a nicer label visible in the menu. Here is an example configuration from my own system to give you an idea of how it works: # Nazo's Extlinux Configuration DEFAULT menu.c32 ONTIMEOUT chain.c32 hd0 2 TIMEOUT 100 PROMPT 0 IMPLICIT 1 SAY Enter command line for bootup: MENU TITLE Syslinux Bootup LABEL windows MENU LABEL ^Windows MENU DEFAULT KERNEL chain.c32 APPEND hd0 2 LABEL linux MENU LABEL Gentoo ^Linux 2005.1 KERNEL gentoo APPEND initrd=gentinit vga=0x31b root=/dev/ram0 real_root=/dev/hda7 udev ramdisk=16384 video=vesafb:mtrr,ywrap,1280x1024-32 at 60 LABEL geexbox MENU LABEL ^GeeXBoX KERNEL geexbox APPEND initrd=geexinit.gz root=/dev/ram0 rw init=linuxrc boot=hda1 splash=0 vga=0x315 video=vesafb:ywrap,mtrr LABEL pqmagic MENU LABEL ^Partition Magic 8 KERNEL memdisk APPEND initrd=/disks/pqmagic.gz floppy LABEL memtest MENU LABEL ^Memtest86+ 1.60 KERNEL memtestp APPEND - LABEL mprime MENU LABEL Prime^95 24.13 KERNEL mprime APPEND initrd=mpinit.gz rw ramdisk_size=5325 LABEL dosdisk MENU LABEL DOS ^Bootdisk (Windows 98 based) KERNEL memdisk APPEND initrd=/disks/dos.gz floppy LABEL dos622 MENU LABEL DOS ^6.22 Bootdisk KERNEL memdisk APPEND initrd=/disks/dos622.gz floppy LABEL aida MENU LABEL AIDA (Displays detailed information on every system component) KERNEL memdisk APPEND initrd=/disks/aida.img floppy
On 11/4/05, Nazo <nazosan at gmail.com> wrote:> On 11/3/05, Grant Gossett <ggossett at symantec.com> wrote: > > Hello all, > > > > I have a few questions about the menuing system that I haven't been able > > to find in the archives (it would be nice if they were available in a > > searchable form other than having to click on a month-by month basis and > > read through them - if they are searchable I would love to find a way to > > do this but it hasn't jumped out at me). > > > > My first question is : What is menu.c32? I see some posts of > > /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default in the archived threads that have simple > > menus and use this as the "default" entry in pxelinux.cfg/default, yet I > > see no label in the rest of the file named menu.c32 (I'm thinking this is > > not right). For example: > > > > DEFAULT menu.c32 > > > > LABEL whatever > > KERNEL memdisk > > APPEND somedosbootdisk.img > > > > > > I realize menu.c32 is a program (com32 style?) that is found in syslinux > > 3.11 under com32/modules. The question is what does it do and why should I > > use it? Is placing it as the default in a simple menu (as I've described > > above and feel is wrong) the correct way to use it? I am interested in > > displaying a menu of choices to users (e.g. dos ghost boot disk, linux > > kickstart installs, win 98 SE boot disks, etc) so that they either can > > select an option with enter or know what possible options exist. Using the > > simple menu with "prompt 1" I get what I would consider a normal LILO-like > > boot loader prompt: > > > > boot: > > > > However, I cannot get a list of options (labels) to display and expecting > > users to remember to answer "win98se_bootdisk" isn't really going to work > > :). This is probably a job for the advanced menus (unless my assumption > > that menu.c32 + a simple menu is actually for this purpose (i.e. it shows > > menu labels that are listed in /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default) and I don't > > know how to use it correctly). > > > > Let's say that I am stuck with creating an advanced (compiled com32) menu > > because my above assumption about menu.c32 is incorrect. So I would make > > the com32 menu file according to the documentation and my menu needs (no > > problems there). This leads me to my next question: > > > > Do I replace the entire simple menu with just one option (say for instance > > a label that has the newly made com32 menu as its kernel and also make > > that label the default)? For example: > > > > DEFAULT myfancypants > > > > LABEL myfancypants > > KERNEL myfancynewmenu.c32 > > > > > > thanks a bunch for any help clearing this up for me. > > > > Grant > > > > _______________________________________________ > > SYSLINUX mailing list > > Submissions to SYSLINUX at zytor.com > > Unsubscribe or set options at: > > http://www.zytor.com/mailman/listinfo/syslinux > > Please do not send private replies to mailing list traffic. > > > > > > To the question about menu.c32, it's a nice little module that you can > boot through syslinux and it's other incarnates which gives you a > really simplistic menu. No pretty flash graphics or anything, but, it > gives you nice simple little labels so the user isn't required to know > exactly what to type to boot a particular item, and you don't have to > create complex message files to explain to them exactly what to do. > To use it, you just simply boot it like a kernel. However, it also > accepts some new commands in the configuration, such as MENU LABEL > under each boot item to give it a nicer label visible in the menu. > Here is an example configuration from my own system to give you an > idea of how it works: > > # Nazo's Extlinux Configuration > > DEFAULT menu.c32 > ONTIMEOUT chain.c32 hd0 2 > TIMEOUT 100 > PROMPT 0 > IMPLICIT 1 > > SAY Enter command line for bootup: > MENU TITLE Syslinux Bootup > > > LABEL windows > MENU LABEL ^Windows > MENU DEFAULT > KERNEL chain.c32 > APPEND hd0 2 > > LABEL linux > MENU LABEL Gentoo ^Linux 2005.1 > KERNEL gentoo > APPEND initrd=gentinit vga=0x31b root=/dev/ram0 real_root=/dev/hda7 > udev ramdisk=16384 video=vesafb:mtrr,ywrap,1280x1024-32 at 60 > > > LABEL geexbox > MENU LABEL ^GeeXBoX > KERNEL geexbox > APPEND initrd=geexinit.gz root=/dev/ram0 rw init=linuxrc boot=hda1 > splash=0 vga=0x315 video=vesafb:ywrap,mtrr > > > LABEL pqmagic > MENU LABEL ^Partition Magic 8 > KERNEL memdisk > APPEND initrd=/disks/pqmagic.gz floppy > > LABEL memtest > MENU LABEL ^Memtest86+ 1.60 > KERNEL memtestp > APPEND - > > LABEL mprime > MENU LABEL Prime^95 24.13 > KERNEL mprime > APPEND initrd=mpinit.gz rw ramdisk_size=5325 > > > LABEL dosdisk > MENU LABEL DOS ^Bootdisk (Windows 98 based) > KERNEL memdisk > APPEND initrd=/disks/dos.gz floppy > > LABEL dos622 > MENU LABEL DOS ^6.22 Bootdisk > KERNEL memdisk > APPEND initrd=/disks/dos622.gz floppy > > > LABEL aida > MENU LABEL AIDA (Displays detailed information on every system component) > KERNEL memdisk > APPEND initrd=/disks/aida.img floppy >Sorry, I forgot to say, but, there SHOULD be a README.menu file in the syslinux archive you can read for more details about how the thing works. Also, just so it's 100% clear, this is not specific to pxelinux. It will work in any of the syslinux family, including, for example, isolinux.
The simple menu (found in com32/modules) reads your config file and displays its contents for user selection. For that reason the config file allows you to "Configure" the menu using certain keywords. The advanced menu on the other hand currently does not read the config file and hence the menu contents need to be hard coded into program before compiling it. So if you use the advanced menu, and put that as the default entry in your config file, it is not necessary to put the user choices there. However, it will be a good idea to do it anyway. It gives you the possibility of switching menu systems and more importantly, allows you to type something in the boot prompt directly in case any/both the menu systems are giving you problems. Hope this answers your question. - Murali Grant Gossett wrote:> Hello all, > > I have a few questions about the menuing system that I haven't been able > to find in the archives (it would be nice if they were available in a > searchable form other than having to click on a month-by month basis and > read through them - if they are searchable I would love to find a way to > do this but it hasn't jumped out at me). > > My first question is : What is menu.c32? I see some posts of > /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default in the archived threads that have simple > menus and use this as the "default" entry in pxelinux.cfg/default, yet I > see no label in the rest of the file named menu.c32 (I'm thinking this is > not right). For example: > > DEFAULT menu.c32 > > LABEL whatever > KERNEL memdisk > APPEND somedosbootdisk.img > > > I realize menu.c32 is a program (com32 style?) that is found in syslinux > 3.11 under com32/modules. The question is what does it do and why should I > use it? Is placing it as the default in a simple menu (as I've described > above and feel is wrong) the correct way to use it? I am interested in > displaying a menu of choices to users (e.g. dos ghost boot disk, linux > kickstart installs, win 98 SE boot disks, etc) so that they either can > select an option with enter or know what possible options exist. Using the > simple menu with "prompt 1" I get what I would consider a normal LILO-like > boot loader prompt: > > boot: > > However, I cannot get a list of options (labels) to display and expecting > users to remember to answer "win98se_bootdisk" isn't really going to work > :). This is probably a job for the advanced menus (unless my assumption > that menu.c32 + a simple menu is actually for this purpose (i.e. it shows > menu labels that are listed in /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default) and I don't > know how to use it correctly). > > Let's say that I am stuck with creating an advanced (compiled com32) menu > because my above assumption about menu.c32 is incorrect. So I would make > the com32 menu file according to the documentation and my menu needs (no > problems there). This leads me to my next question: > > Do I replace the entire simple menu with just one option (say for instance > a label that has the newly made com32 menu as its kernel and also make > that label the default)? For example: > > DEFAULT myfancypants > > LABEL myfancypants > KERNEL myfancynewmenu.c32 > > > thanks a bunch for any help clearing this up for me. > > Grant > > _______________________________________________ > SYSLINUX mailing list > Submissions to SYSLINUX at zytor.com > Unsubscribe or set options at: > http://www.zytor.com/mailman/listinfo/syslinux > Please do not send private replies to mailing list traffic. > > >