Syslinux - Feb 2008 - isolinux problem: recent kernel versions vs. old hardware

Hi,

recent isolinux versions work fine with current linux kernels on
current hardware. But on older hardware there isn't a bootsplash
visible at all - like if there isn't a CD in the tray. :(

Sadly the older isolinux versions don't work with current kernels
(giving me an empty /proc/cmdline for example when using kernel
2.6.23), otherwise I'd just use an old isolinux version of course.

I tested several isolinux versions. Isolinux verions >=3.51 boot
kernel 2.6.23 just fine - but not on old, b0rken hardware.

I'm aware of btmgr's existence but that's not a solution for me,
because this is a workaround involving an additional step on the
user's side. :(

Is there any chance to get around this situation? Is there a
specific reason why isolinux >=3.51 (AFAICS) does not support older,
b0rken hardware at all? A build flag --iknowmyhardwareisb0rken would
be fine for me as well of course. ;)

thx && regards,
-mika-
-- 
 ,'"`.         http://www.michael-prokop.at/
(  grml.org -? Linux Live-CD for texttool-users and sysadmins
 `._,'         http://www.grml.org/
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Michael Prokop wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> recent isolinux versions work fine with current linux kernels on
> current hardware. But on older hardware there isn't a bootsplash
> visible at all - like if there isn't a CD in the tray. :(
> 
> Is there any chance to get around this situation? Is there a
> specific reason why isolinux >=3.51 (AFAICS) does not support older,
> b0rken hardware at all? A build flag --iknowmyhardwareisb0rken would
> be fine for me as well of course. ;)
> 
Without some detail on your configuration, the exact failure mode, and 
what constitutes "old b0rken hardware", this isn't an answerable
question.

vesamenu is expected to fall back to text mode (but still display the 
text-mode menu) on systems which lack VESA 2.0 or an FPU - which pretty 
much means a 486SX or something from that era.

	-hpa

* Michael Prokop <news at michael-prokop.at> [20080213 12:30]:
> recent isolinux versions work fine with current linux kernels on
> current hardware. But on older hardware there isn't a bootsplash
> visible at all - like if there isn't a CD in the tray. :(
[...]

Alright, looks like we? located the problem: the /boot/isolinux/
directory seems to be too big for older systems. It was about 12MB
of space. Now I've minimized the content of /boot/isolinux/ and
isolinux version 3.61 seems to work fine on older hardware again.

HPA, do you have any idea for the reason of this problem? Maybe this
could be mentioned somewhere in the docs, so other users don't fall
into this trap?

? Credits for testing to Andrea Mayr and Wernfried Haas.

thx && regards,
-mika-
-- 
 ,'"`.         http://www.michael-prokop.at/
(  grml.org -? Linux Live-CD for texttool-users and sysadmins
 `._,'         http://www.grml.org/
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