Arch Linux

prometheus069

Member

Registered: 2016-07-26

Posts: 26

Syslinux design preview

Hello everyone,
i just ask me if there is a way to see a preview from the syslinux bootloader screen. does anyone know something about this? im asking because it s*cks configuring the design and allways do a reboot to see the effect of the changes.

Ah and something more interesting:
does anyone know what will happen if i make an entry like this in the syslinux.cfg?

LABEL arch
    MENU LABEL Arch Linux
    LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux1           <-- NOTE THAT
    APPEND (...)
    INITRD ../initramfs-linux2.img    <-- AND THAT

linux1 and linux2 are different kernels.

Last edited by prometheus069 (2016-08-15 19:59:56)

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alive4ever

Member

Registered: 2016-07-10

Posts: 65

Re: Syslinux design preview

I think you are missing the point here.

vmlinuz-linux is kernel image. It's a binary file.
initramfs-linux.img is initial ramdisk, which is a compressed cpio archive. See man 7 boot and man 4 initrd for detail of Linux boot process.

I think it would make sense to only use kernel and initramfs from same kernel version. In case of kernel update, a new initramfs will be generated via mkinitcpio hook.

If you want to keep multiple kernel, i.e. linux and linux-lts, be sure to add matching initramfs for the kernel.

Arch Linux won't boot if you don't specify an initramfs (i.e. kernel panic).

alphaniner

Member

From: Ancapistan

Registered: 2010-07-12

Posts: 2,810

Re: Syslinux design preview

Your title made me think you're trying to test appearance but from your post it sounds like you just want to test menu entries. Did you know you can select a menu entry and press <Tab> to edit the resulting 'command'? Any modifications are only for this boot (they don't affect the config).

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-Lysander Spooner

prometheus069

Member

Registered: 2016-07-26

Posts: 26

Re: Syslinux design preview

Your title made me think you're trying to test appearance but from your post it sounds like you just want to test menu entries. Did you know you can select a menu entry and press <Tab> to edit the resulting 'command'? Any modifications are only for this boot (they don't affect the config).

okay i am sorry. i have to be more specific.
my first thougt was how to see a preview of my changes, then, i asked myself what would happen if... and thats the story of the thread.
but at least yes, your thougts are right.

is this, what you mean by pressing <tab> , equal to pressing "e" in grub?
if yes, can you tell me how to shut it off?

(...)See man 7 boot and man 4 initrd for detail of Linux boot process. (...)

If you want to keep multiple kernel, i.e. linux and linux-lts, be sure to add matching initramfs for the kernel.

Arch Linux won't boot if you don't specify an initramfs (i.e. kernel panic).

thank you  for your manpages hint. (these "what if" thougts like explained came up while installing linux-lts.)

But still, can i see preview of my syslinux.cfg changes* without a reboot?
*(like color changes or the position of the menuentries..)

Last edited by prometheus069 (2016-08-18 19:02:48)

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lol these smileys nowadays...

alphaniner

Member

From: Ancapistan

Registered: 2010-07-12

Posts: 2,810

Re: Syslinux design preview

is this, what you mean by pressing <tab> , equal to pressing "e" in grub?
if yes, can you tell me how to shut it off?

IIRC when you edit an entry in grub it looks very similar to the actual entry in the config. In syslinux, the entire entry is condensed into a single line. But it's the same idea I think. Pressing <Esc> will return you to the menu.

But still, can i see preview of my syslinux.cfg changes* without a reboot?
*(like color changes or the position of the menuentries..)

I don't know, but I doubt it. To speed up the process, maybe test in a VM.

---

But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.
-Lysander Spooner

prometheus069

Member

Registered: 2016-07-26

Posts: 26

Re: Syslinux design preview

IIRC when you edit an entry in grub it looks very similar to the actual entry in the config. In syslinux, the entire entry is condensed into a single line. But it's the same idea I think. Pressing <Esc> will return you to the menu.

I don't know, but I doubt it. To speed up the process, maybe test in a VM.

how can i forbid pressing <tab>?

thats a mess, setting up a vm or setting up syslinux. in the end, its the same waste of time..

i want to thank all "contributors" to this thread.

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ukhippo

Member

From: Non-paged pool

Registered: 2014-02-21

Posts: 366

Re: Syslinux design preview

Try reading the syslinux.org wiki pages, in particular http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Menu

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 30,456

Website

Re: Syslinux design preview

I'm not sure what the preview is needed for.  You want to customize the look of your menu?  You can (depending on the ui setting used) set the resolution.  You can set a background image.  You'll know the number of text rows and columns available.  And you'll position menu items at specific row-column coordinates.  If you need a preview, get a piece of graph paper and draw it out.

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"UNIX is simple and coherent" - Dennis Ritchie; "GNU's Not Unix" - Richard Stallman