[Idea] iReboot for Linux?

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One for the "regular" users and one for this purpose. Too much demand for support would arise if we combined them and curious users accidently messed thier system up.

Addendum:

Coolname007 said:
I don't follow you...:wtf: What does explore2fs have to do with using an iReboot-like program from Linux to reboot into another OS (e.g. XP), if Grub's installed to the MBR?

-Coolname007
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Explore2fs is used on the Windows side with a driver to allow read/write access to a linux partition like I was talking about, which could allow for modification as necessary from Windows to the menu.lst file in order for the custom iReboot to work correctly. The linux side would be relatively simple like said before where it would have native access, and wouldn't need to mess with the Windows registry in any way.
 
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kairozamorro said:
Explore2fs is used on the Windows side with a driver to allow read/write access to a linux partition like I was talking about, which could allow for modification as necessary from Windows to the menu.lst file in order for the custom iReboot to work correctly. The linux side would be relatively simple like said before where it would have native access, and wouldn't need to mess with the Windows registry in any way.
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Yeah, but the whole point I was making was that since the program was meant to be Linux-based anyway (i.e. run from Linux), then what did explore2fs have to do with that? :wink: I understand yours and Mac's point in that you might be able to edit the menu.lst from Windows (with software like explore2fs), and allow for rebooting even when Grub is installed to the MBR, but I was speaking solely of the instance of a iReboot-like program run from Linux, and used to reboot into other OSes, with Grub installed to the MBR. :smile:

Cheers,

Jake
 
As you know with iReboot, it must be installed in all of the OSes to be useful. With this custom iReboot for linux, one would be needed for the Windows side as well to "complete" it.
 
kairozamorro said:
As you know with iReboot, it must be installed in all of the OSes to be useful. With this custom iReboot for linux, one would be needed for the Windows side as well to "complete" it.
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Hmm...you may have a good point there. :wink: Of course it would certainly be better if the program could be run from both, if possible. But as has been already discussed, actually achieving that goal would be tough for all the listed reasons, and no doubt even more than that. :smile: That is why I thought a program equivalent to the Windows iReboot that could be run solely from Linux, with Grub installed to the MBR, would be more likely to be built.

Cheers,

Jake
 
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Coolname007 said:
Ok, but as long as you use the program from Linux, then that wouldn't be a problem, right? :wink: And that is what I was talking about anyway when I first bumped this old thread.

-Coolname007
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My whole point is exactly what Justin had said. iReboot isnt all that useful if you have 2 Windows OS's installed and 1 Linux and a version specifically for Linux that can only run in Linux.

iReboot to be totally useful would have to be installed in all OS's to be of use. Since it is a quick and efficent way to reboot with bypassing the OS Selection screen.

So to only have it from the Linux side wouldnt be much of a bonus for many people here are they are all mainly using EasyBCD to use teh BCD and multi boot.

Most who run Linux are happy with GRUB.LiLO or whatever loader they have and are just fine with selecting the OS to reboot to if they multi boot Linux.

So in effect you would have to allow for Windows to edit the menu.lst in order to make the program fully effective. Which is where my point about the program comes into play.

To just have one specifically for Linux, while a great idea, would be cumbersome to support. As many people here stay strictly in Windows. So to support it would require someone with massive amount of Linux knowledge to understand why it wasnt working right if a problem arose with trying to use it with FreeBSD, PC-BSD, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Fedora among the rest out there.

Not to mention all the amount of coding that would go into it to make it work on all the different distros. From Debian based to BSD, to Red Hat and more.

So while having one that could work within Linux is a great idea the real aspect of getting something like it done is much more entailed that is first envisioned.

This is just a few of the things that i am thinking about when making my replies not just the aspect of trying to get it to work with GRUB. As we would have to make it work with the FreeBSD loader since not every distro uses GRUB. Along with making it work with the BTX Loader, LiLO and others. Along with making it compatible with the NeoGRUB as well.

Which is why when i first created this topic i looked at it strictly from a BCD as boot loader point of view. As trying to factor in all the different boot loaders for all the different types of Linux Distros is a trouble some factor. As it is right now EasyBCD doesnt support the BTX Loader for PC-BSD which is coming on strong now.

I still think it may be something that can be thought of and refined. But there is much more to consider than just programming it for GRUB.
 
True. You make some good points...:wink: Getting a program like that to work from all the different Linux distros would probably be tough. Ok, so let's stick with your original idea then, and have one that works with the Vista bootloader controlling the boot instead, and allow rebooting from Linux into other OSes. :brows:

*tosses my idea out the window*

Cheers,

Jake
 
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I'm currently using the XP boot loader and boot vista, XP and 3 flavors of Linux. I got tired of the computer crashing in Windows and then rebooting into Linux with corrupted NTFS drives, what I did to fix this is made 5 different boot.ini files and named them bootXP.ini, BootVista.ini and so on. I then added a bat file to autostart in windows and a script in Linux to copy boot*. ini to boot.ini, this makes my machine reboot into whatever OS was previously loaded. Can this method be adapted to the Vista boot loader? If it can then you could use a series of scripts or .bat files to select which OS to reboot into. Of course Linux needs to mount your boot drive to make this work. I hope this makes sense.


Mike
 
Mike, nice way to hack things together :smile:

I like your thinking of using niether bootmgr or grub as primary but using ntldr and boot.ini files to point to the right places. That might be another possibility here.

With batch files you could tell the Vista bootloader which entry to boot (bcdedit commands to configure it), but iReboot for Windows already addresses that.

For the linux side of things assuming that you're using the grub loader as primary that is what this thread is for. Unfortunately, Vista's bcd store is manipulated in the registry and not an easy to view/edit/replace boot.ini file that could be modified as necessary through some bash scripting like you want. It would be nice to put a linux version together that will work regardless or whether grub or bootmgr had primary control, but reading through the posts you'll see there is a challenge with safely accessing and modifying the appropriate Windows registry settings programmatically in Linux.
 
Arguero09 said:
Since the forum account is no longer linked to the blog, I think my idea might work.

Know how you can comment or "reply" to other users comments. I was wondering if there was a way for me to get a notification if someone replies to my comment/s.

Let me know what you guys think about it. Think it will be useful?
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Sure this is a human, and not a spam-bot, Terry?
 
I know this is an old thread, but it is the only one I found that got me thinking of a solution to my problem.

I only use Win7 to run EasyBCD and iReboot. I also have multiple Linux variants and anything else I can find for testing. To remote control my machine I use Teamviewer.

I created a separate folder for every OS that I wanted to boot in the "boot" folder that contains the bcd file.

Then I use EasyBCD to change the default to each OS and save that bcd file to the corresponding folder.

When I am on a Linux variant or other OS besides Win7 I simply copy and paste the desired bcd file into the "boot" folder and overwrite the existing one.

Vic
 
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