Re: [MiNT] Idea for boot sequence

[Peter Slegg <p.slegg@scubadivers.co.uk>]

On Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:56:24 , Alan Hourihane <alanh@fairlite.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > If the sym link in /usr/bin is still pointing to xaloader then it is not
> > possible to start 1.15.12 and NAES then I have to start the farce of
> > booting in TOS editing mint.cnf to boot to a shell. Rebooting in Mint
> > so I can delete the symlink. Reboot, etc. etc.
>
> Eh? So you've just broke your stable mint.cnf ??

ttytab is used to start xaaes, I gather this is the recommended method.
It points to a symlink that points to the aes. That symlink is in
/usr/bin  So to change aes the symlink has to be deleted. I have set
mint.cnf to create the correct symlink but it is not able to delete
one or replace it. So it has to be done manually.

 
> > So why not take advantage of the optional Mint folders and make them
> > available when the Mint kernel loads ? Why rely on the hard-coded folder
> > being perfect ?  I hate hard-coded stuff like this.
>
> It's hard coded for safety. So if your "stable" 1.15.x release has a
> nice and unmodified mint.cnf - where's the problem ?

So why not default it for "safety" but what if the user makes a mistake
and puts the wrong xaaes in the folder or renames it incorrectly. My
suggestion provides a simple flexible and safe way to get out of the
situation.
 
> If you broke a symlink then fix it, as if you mint.cnf's are all the
> same no matter which kernel you boot, you've broken it. xaloader should
> be in C:\MINT\1-17-0\XAAES\XALOADER.PRG anyway and your mint.cnf should
> point to that, so I'm not sure why you are using symlinks.

I don't know how you are starting mint. Presumably not with INIT=u:\sbin\init


> > I don't see why there is such opposition to a more flexible system.
>
> Feel free to code it up. I just don't see the point in the effort
> against any gain, and I don't see any gain.

It wouldn't change the default behaviour
It allows the user to use any of the mint folders to rescue the system
It doesn't break anything

It was just a suggestion but it seems to have fallen on stony ground.

Regards,

Peter