Re: multiboot2: make multiboot header optional

[Yoshinori K. Okuji]

On Saturday 02 December 2006 17:15, Marco Gerards wrote:
> "Yoshinori K. Okuji" <address@hidden> writes:
> > On Wednesday 15 November 2006 19:42, Hollis Blanchard wrote:
> >> > If the operating system kernel is stupid enough to require as special
> >> > video mode the user should be aware of that and setup the bootloader
> >> > so that it is in that mode before the kernel is started.
> >>
> >> The only information in the multiboot header is a) the load addresses
> >> for a.out and "other" formats, and b) the VGA info.
> >>
> >> We could certainly drop the VGA info.
> >
> > No. The problem is that a kernel cannot initialize VESA in protected mode
> > in some BIOSes. If you need more info, please dig into the archive of
> > bug-grub.
>
> Right, but now the kernel tells the user while video mode to use.  So
> either it is hardcoded in the kernel, or the user has to change the
> kernel to change video modes.  I think this is weird and this was
> never implemented this way.
>
> What I prefer is making it possible for the user to select the video
> mode.  In that case the kernel will become a bit more complex, because
> it has to deal with more situations, but I do not really see this as a
> problem.

Please read the spec carefully. It only specifies what an OS image prefers. 
Since this is a spec, it does not define what happens when the user specifies 
something else in a config file or interactively, but it recommends 
overriding the preference by the user's input.

Why this is useful has been discussed in bug-grub a long, long time ago, and 
I'm not willing to repeat the same discussion again. So, if you don't agree, 
first dig into the archive. If you think it's too boring, just trust me.

Okuji