Arch Linux

useradded

Member

From: Edinburgh, UK

Registered: 2010-05-15

Posts: 77

syslinux.cfg menu layout options

Hello

I've been playing around with syslinux as an attempt to escape the looming complexity of grub2, and it looks pretty good, but wherever I look (google, man pages, wikis, online documention) I can't seem to find an answer to one simple question:

What do the numbers refer to in these settings relating to menu layout in syslinux.cfg?

MENU WIDTH 78
MENU MARGIN 4
MENU ROWS 5
MENU VSHIFT 10
MENU TIMEOUTROW 13
MENU TABMSGROW 11
MENU CMDLINEROW 11
MENU HELPMSGROW 16
MENU HELPMSGENDROW 29

I could use a  trial and error experimental approach, but each change means a reboot (or is it possible to view the current syslinux set-up without rebooting?).

Thanks

useradded

Member

From: Edinburgh, UK

Registered: 2010-05-15

Posts: 77

Re: syslinux.cfg menu layout options

With some further looking into this, my best guess is that they refer to number of charaters or columns, but I'm really not sure if either of those is right.

milomouse

Member

Registered: 2009-03-24

Posts: 940

Website

Re: syslinux.cfg menu layout options

i think it's columns, but i could be wrong as well. i will vouch for syslinux though and say it's great, i don't personally use a menu but love how easily it can handle adding/removing images and otherwise ignore it upon upgrades.

useradded

Member

From: Edinburgh, UK

Registered: 2010-05-15

Posts: 77

Re: syslinux.cfg menu layout options

OK, but what does 'columns' mean here?   In particular, how does a column relate to pixels or characters, and if not those then what does it relate to? 

I suppose I don't know what a 'column' in the abstract means here.