Syslinux

= Syslinux Bootloader =

People probably don't know that syslinux bootloader is good replacement to other "advanced" bootloaders such as Grub.

For sure syslinux is better maintained than Grub, so after long time of using Grub I switched.

Unlike Grub syslinux is well behaved bootloader and does not need any special requirement.

syslinux components:
 * syslinux - FAT filesystem bootloader.
 * extlinux - ext2 filesystem bootloader.
 * pxelinux - network pxe bootloader.
 * isolinux - ISO-9660 (cdrom) bootloader.

This manual should be kept simple for most of common usages (extlinux, syslinux), for advanced usages refer to upstream site or other pages.

Installation
Install MBR:

Set boot partition as active:

Configuration
Configuration file varies between bootloaders:
 * syslinux - syslinux.cfg
 * extlinux - extlinux.conf
 * isolinux - isolinux.cfg

The configuration format is the same.

Menu configuration
The following configuration provides a simple text menu example.

This is done via the vesamenu module, in some cases where vesa is not compatible, the simpler menu module will work.

Logic:
 * 1) Do not wait for user interaction and select the "menu" configuration.
 * 2) The "menu" configuration entry actually loads the "vesamenu.c32" module.
 * 3) The vesamenu module reads the same configuration file, but now present entries as menu entries.
 * 4) The "menu" entry will be hidden.
 * 5) After 3 seconds (3*10=30) The default x86_64-3.1.0-gentoo-r1 entry will be selected.

Copy the VESA menu module into the boot filesystem.

Author
Alon Bar-Lev