From owner-freebsd-current@freebsd.org Tue Mar 17 14:28:33 2020 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-current@mailman.nyi.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2610:1c1:1:606c::19:1]) by mailman.nyi.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 09ACE2683DD for ; Tue, 17 Mar 2020 14:28:33 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from bsd-lists@BSDforge.com) Received: from udns.ultimatedns.net (static-24-113-41-81.wavecable.com [24.113.41.81]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (Client CN "ultimatedns.net", Issuer "Let's Encrypt Authority X3" (verified OK)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 48hbBS23qTz4Dxc for ; Tue, 17 Mar 2020 14:28:31 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from bsd-lists@BSDforge.com) Received: from udns.ultimatedns.net (localhost [IPv6:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]) by udns.ultimatedns.net (8.15.2/8.15.2) with ESMTPS id 02HESeD7033009 (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128 verify=NO); Tue, 17 Mar 2020 07:28:47 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from bsd-lists@BSDforge.com) X-Mailer: Cypht MIME-Version: 1.0 Cc: In-Reply-To: <6bf1a155-b0c7-e96c-6760-54ca5b5a92a8@denninger.net> From: Chris Reply-To: bsd-lists@BSDforge.com To: Karl Denninger Subject: Re: what 3rd party boot mgr is required to boot multiple freebsd versions? Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 07:28:46 -0700 Message-Id: <5f539384af3832da5f80a0671cea767c@udns.ultimatedns.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Rspamd-Queue-Id: 48hbBS23qTz4Dxc X-Spamd-Bar: / Authentication-Results: mx1.freebsd.org; none X-Spamd-Result: default: False [0.17 / 15.00]; NEURAL_SPAM_MEDIUM(0.98)[0.975,0]; ASN(0.00)[asn:11404, ipnet:24.113.0.0/16, country:US]; local_wl_ip(0.00)[24.113.41.81]; NEURAL_HAM_LONG(-0.80)[-0.802,0] X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.29 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2020 14:28:33 -0000 On Mon, 16 Mar 2020 22:03:02 -0500 Karl Denninger karl@denninger=2Enet said > On 3/16/2020 17:33, Chris wrote: > > On Mon, 16 Mar 2020 17:24:24 -0500 Karl Denninger karl@denninger=2Enet sa= id > > > >> On 3/16/2020 17:23, Chris wrote: > >> > I'm attempting to boot multiple versions of FreeBSD=2E > >> > I started with an install of older 11 with a (u)efi > >> > boot partition installed=2E I then grabbed an current 11 > >> > usbstick, and installed that=2E Which stated it needed to > >> > install a (u)efi boot partition=2E I let it do it=2E But the > >> > new (additional) install doesn't show up at boot=2E Altho > >> > my UEFI BIOS sees it=2E > >> > I guess there are just too many uefi bios versions, > >> > and too many changes in the FreeBSD uefi boot code > >> > to expect consistent results over the long haul=2E > >> > Should I just convert the 1st efi (GPT) boot partition > >> > to a PMBR, and delete the second efi partition=2E Or is > >> > there a recommended bootmanager I can use to boot multiple > >> > versions of FreeBSD? Windows? > >> > > >> > Thank you! > >> > > >> > --Chris > >> > > >> Refind perhaps? > > Thanks for the reply, Karl! :) > > I've used that before for FreeBSD/MacOS combos=2E I'll look at it again=2E > > > > For the record=2E I'm *only* using FreeBSD in this situation=2E I > > only mentioned Windows above, for the use of it's boot manager=2E > > > > Thanks again! > > > Refind will find all the bootable EFI "elements" in the EFI partition > and menu them=2E=C2=A0 The question then becomes whether multiple efi loade= rs > can be told to each use a *different* partition to load the kernel from > (and thus the loader file, which in turn can tell it where the root > filesystem is=2E) >=20 > Reading through the man page it appears they may not be=2E=C2=A0 You could = of > course interrupt it and manually select that, but I suspect that's not > what you want to have to do=2E >=20 > I use refind on a dual-boot (win10/FreeBSD) system but not with multiple > independent FreeBSD versions=2E Thanks for all the detail, Karl=2E I was also looking at those details=2E It occurs to me that an *ideal* arrangement might be the ability to name each efi loader according to it's target, or probably better; (name) the directo= ries that hold the loaders=2E It just seems wasteful/inefficient to create x numbe= r of efi partitions for x number of OSs=2E Maybe boot0 could be coerced info something similar? I'm currently looking at Clover (popular with the "hackintosh" users) that seems to do something similar=2E Thanks again! --Chris >=20 > --=20 > Karl Denninger > karl@denninger=2Enet > /The Market Ticker/ > /[S/MIME encrypted email preferred]/