Re: Grub installation and configuration

[Vagrant Cascadian <vagrant@debian.org>]

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On 2023-03-07, Ludovic Courtès wrote:
> Emmanuel Beffara <manu@beffara.org> skribis:
>
>> - Install the keymaps in the EFI partition like the Grub modules, so that the
>>   proper keymap is setup early in the boot process.
>
> [...]
>
>> - Set the terminal_output before any user input is required (and in particular
>>   the passphrase request), for proper interaction.
>
> [...]
>
>> - Offer the option to put kernels and initrds in the EFI partition (and also
>>   any resource needed by Grub like the background picture, locales etc), so
>>   that Grub can be fully functional without decrypting. Apart from solving the
>>   issue of having to enter the passphrase twice and with different keymaps,
>>   this would also allow having Guix System in an encrypted partition while
>>   allowing to boot other systems without requiring its passphrase.
>>
>> I would love to propose patches for that but I am too much of a beginner with
>> Guix to be able to do that right now…
>
> All good points!
>
> Maybe what you can do, then, is report each issue to bug-guix@gnu.org
> separately and provide guidance for the GRUB side of things: what should
> the generated ‘grub.cfg’ look like after each of these points is
> addressed?
>
> In return, an experienced Guix person can provide guidance on the Guix
> side of things so we converge towards an actual patch set.

Kind of related, with EFI you could actually install additional system
generations as entirely separate EFI boot entries
(e.g. /boot/efi/efi/guix-N and /boot/efi/efi/guix-N+1) in case the most
recent grub was broken for some reason.

Space for EFI variables will eventually run out if you have too many of
these, but would at least allow reverting to the last two or three or
maybe more generations of grub and their corresponding configurations.

This might be a violation of EFI specs, as I think you are supposed to
use the vendor name as the directory name, but technically ought to work
just fine.


Someone, who is whistling innocently right now, recently had a few too
many misadventures with EFI, but maybe some good can come of it. :)


live well,
  vagrant

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