[parted-devel] [PATCH] GPT & BIOS Boot partition

[H. Peter Anvin]

Robert Millan wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 03:57:03PM -0800, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
>> Is there any specification for this?
>>
>> This seems like a specific boot GUID, but is there any documentation as 
>> to handover protocols, cross-OS support, etc; or is this a "Grub2-only 
>> standard"?
> 
> GRUB goes its own way, just like on DOS labels, and extends this with info
> about which drive contains /boot/grub/, etc.  Otherwise, it can work the same
> as on "standard" MBRs for DOS labels (same entry point, etc).
> 
> You might be interested in:
> 
>   http://aybabtu.com/mbr-gpt/
> 
> So, setting the "boot_bios" flag on GPT is essentially the same thing as
> setting the "bootable" flag on a DOS label.
> 

Yuck, this is a total mess.  It's not a "bootable" flag, then, it's a 
"I'm Grub" flag.  In particular, I see nothing like the handover 
protocol which is present in the normal MBR booting (which is essential 
for chainloading to work right, for example.)

	-hpa