Why is grub2 so bad? Whats going on in the world of grub2?

[aus9]

hi

Some may like to express their views here.

Altho there is another forum for "ranting" and the like, I thought others may prefer to do it here.

I will start the ball rolling. I heard a little rumour that grub2 themes will merge with grub2 shortly...ETA unknown.

here is a very good link on what someone did to tweak the themes that I menitioned in the sidux wiki....about the guru.

bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=434108

The last time I checked, Colin Bennett...the guru is now a dev with Ubuntu so suspect thats the first distro that might display grub2 themes.

EDIT

this might explain the video modules and why sound became available in grub2 recently.

[techAdmin]

Does grub2 support using LABEL= yet? by default.

If they are implementing useless eyecandy before real functional features, that's a sorry sign.... so I guess that will be my first contribution to a rant.

Actually at this point the only thing I find totally absurd is not supporting LABEL= exactly the same as UUID=, no patches required, just works.

Here's my timeline, as with kde 4, grub 2 will require probably 2 to 3 years of dragging devs over hot coals to make them implement the stuff people actually need and use before stupid pointless eyecandy like rotating cubes and so on.

Where would you put grub 2 on this timeline? As with kde 4, I'll just look for things that were easy with grub 1 being easy with grub 2 as my main metric.

[aus9]

hi

atm I am on Tinycore but see if this helps?
wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB2#Using_Labels

but I am guessing you are not on grub2 either

[techAdmin]

arch doesn't use a dynamically generated /boot/grub/grub.conf file.

so they can edit it and not have it be overwritten.

There is a debian patch, but I don't know if it's gone upstream yet. Sorry I don't have a link to the patch or the issue report.

[aus9]

hi

I have made a new post on label in case others don't like reading rants or gossip

[julian516]

Grub2 is aggravating. For people booting multiple distros os-prober ought to be a great tool, but the promise is greater than the performance. With Debian there have been several instances where a Grub upgrade has resulted in fouled up menus. Typically the menu worked but it was mis-labeled; i.e., something labeled Distro A in fact started Distro B.

I filed bug reports (I run 64 bit Squeeze) and things were fixed quickly, but the problem has recurred more than once. A new Grub version or a reinstall fixes it. (In fairness Squeeze is frozen but not stable, I realize. But Grub2 is Grub2?)

So I fix it by manually editing, which of course is over-written the next time I update Grub.

I also have gotten "cannot find closed parenthesis" several times when the Grub menu is being updated, usually after I have added a new distro. I think I know what that means but I have no idea why it happens. My response has been to reinstall Grub, which seems to clear it.

All in all Grub2 on Ubuntu runs more smoothly than Grub2 on Squeeze. Fine, but Ubuntu 10.04 is not where I live most of the time. In fact Ubuntu may not be on my drive much longer.

Grub 2 is just clumsy. It seems to exhibit the "point 'n click" logic that pats the user on the head and says "now let us take care of this." Convenient if it works, not good if it does not.

I may be a certified TechnoKlutz (charter member, I think) but I'd really rather have Grub legacy, as it is now being termed. As a person new to Linux just a few years ago I find it ever so much easier to maintain.

[aus9]

hi

as a dirty work-a-round, copy the menuentries that work into your
40_custom ......run update-grub with root powers then any futher updates of grub2 won't touch them

good luck

[julian516]

Great idea! I will try this tomorrow if I get a chance. This would help a lot of people, I suspect.

[aus9]

hi

I have had to close down my remaster project for personal reasons.

All stale posts and threads and links deleted.

I have no time to do anything for the forseeable future.

[techAdmin]

ah, well, hope to see if you again if or when you have time, if not, enjoy whatever you're up to. Or at least don't suffer too much.