Mer/Documentation/Bootmenu

(added cal-tool tricks)
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==Setting up your Bootmenu .item files for other operating systems==
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When flashing the new bootloader (bootmenu) via the Mer installer it will look for items in /etc/bootmenu.d/ and include those in the bootmenu. This is important when you have an operating system e.g. on your external card.
When flashing the new bootloader (bootmenu) via the Mer installer it will look for items in /etc/bootmenu.d/ and include those in the bootmenu. This is important when you have an operating system e.g. on your external card.
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ITEM_NAME="Maemo on external card, p3"
ITEM_NAME="Maemo on external card, p3"
# needs to be an unique string to identify this item
# needs to be an unique string to identify this item
-
ITEM_ID="Maemo on external, p3"
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ITEM_ID="maemo"
# which hardware device and partition should be booted.  
# which hardware device and partition should be booted.  
# use ${EXT_CARD} for the external card (slot) or ${INT_CARD} for the internal mmc
# use ${EXT_CARD} for the external card (slot) or ${INT_CARD} for the internal mmc
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</nowiki>
</nowiki>
</pre>
</pre>
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==Setting the Default bootmenu item==
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With cal-tool found in initfs, it is possible to set which item to boot as default or/and set bootmenu to show up without pressing any key.
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You'll need to work as root (see [[Root_access]]).
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'''* How to set Mer to boot as default?'''
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First you need to set up your .item files stored in /etc/bootmenu.d/ (see above) ''Please set the ITEM_ID to something small with nothing useless and no spaces.''
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The basic command to set ID "mer" to default is :
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<pre>
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<nowiki>
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chroot /mnt/initfs cal-tool --set-root-device mer
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</nowiki>
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</pre>
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If the ID you set doesn't exist, it will be boot to Internal Flash as default.
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'''* How to make bootmenu pop up without pressing any key?'''
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Bootmenu will pop up automatically if you add "ask:" to the command above.
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For example, this will make bootmenu show up automaticlly, and ITEM_ID "mer" will be preselected:
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<pre>
 +
<nowiki>
 +
chroot /mnt/initfs cal-tool --set-root-device ask:mer
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</nowiki>
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</pre>
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[[Category:Mer|Bootmenu]]
[[Category:Mer|Bootmenu]]

Revision as of 10:29, 2 May 2009

Setting up your Bootmenu .item files for other operating systems

When flashing the new bootloader (bootmenu) via the Mer installer it will look for items in /etc/bootmenu.d/ and include those in the bootmenu. This is important when you have an operating system e.g. on your external card.

This article assumes that you booted Maemo (or equivalent) from your internal flash.

After downloading and installing the Mer installer (see Mer/Documentation/Installation) you need to work as root (see Root_access).

Go to /etc/bootmenu.d/ (cd /etc/bootmenu.d) and check for files (ls -la). Every file with the ending .item in this folder will result in an entry in the bootmenu. The internal flash is always part of the bootmenu.conf, so you dont need an entry here.

The following example (vi maemo.ext.item) will make an option in the bootmenu which allows you to boot an operating system (e.g maemo) from the 3rd partition of the external sd card, formatted with ext3:


# will be shown in the bootmenu
ITEM_NAME="Maemo on external card, p3"
# needs to be an unique string to identify this item
ITEM_ID="maemo"
# which hardware device and partition should be booted. 
# use ${EXT_CARD} for the external card (slot) or ${INT_CARD} for the internal mmc
# followed by p3 for partition three
ITEM_DEVICE="${EXT_CARD}p3"
# which modules to load at boottime
ITEM_MODULES="mbcache jbd ext3"
# fileszstem used on that partition
ITEM_FSTYPE="ext3"
# mounting options
ITEM_FSOPTIONS="noatime,rw"

Setting the Default bootmenu item

With cal-tool found in initfs, it is possible to set which item to boot as default or/and set bootmenu to show up without pressing any key.

You'll need to work as root (see Root_access).

* How to set Mer to boot as default?

First you need to set up your .item files stored in /etc/bootmenu.d/ (see above) Please set the ITEM_ID to something small with nothing useless and no spaces.

The basic command to set ID "mer" to default is :


chroot /mnt/initfs cal-tool --set-root-device mer

If the ID you set doesn't exist, it will be boot to Internal Flash as default.

* How to make bootmenu pop up without pressing any key?

Bootmenu will pop up automatically if you add "ask:" to the command above. For example, this will make bootmenu show up automaticlly, and ITEM_ID "mer" will be preselected:


chroot /mnt/initfs cal-tool --set-root-device ask:mer