Timeout and menu management

[Rémi Mathieu]

Hi everybody

As a user, I don't really understand Grub's menu management, and 
particularly the hiding of the menu for "timeout" seconds before 
booting, to allow for the blind stricking of the key by the user in 
order to undertake special actions.

For a while, I have been using the option of chosing the previously 
chosen entry, with no timeout delay before booting. However, I found it 
difficult to get out of it, even with the existence of the grub-editenv 
command.  So I came back to a regular display of the menu, and the 
waiting of a few second to allow me for the choice of an alternate entry.

Tired of this Grub's behavior, I inserted a 06_custom file into 
/etc/grub.d to have the ability to skip the waiting, unless I press the 
Ctrl key as soon as my PC enters BIOS. In that case, Grub displays the 
menu and waits for "timeout" second before booting. It could wait for a 
infinite timeout, as I obviously attend the PC and do not need any 
default action to be taken (unless I die all of a suden, in which case, 
I dont give a damn of what the PC does).

So my point is the following :

with a "timeout=-1" statement, the menu is to be displayed, whatever 
other options are specified , no countdown is to be displayed
with a "timeout > 0" statement, the menu is to be displayed, and I do 
not see any reason for hiding it ; countdown may be displayed or hidden, 
according to the related option
with a "timeout=0", Grub as to boot immediately the default entry, 
unless a predefined "WaitKey" (one of the three status keys : Ctrl, Alt 
or Shift) in pressed down, in which case Grub behaves as with the 
"timeout=-1" situation

Arbiel