bootloader menu to pick a kernel - what is the current situation in in early 2022? - Printable Version +- PINE64 (https://forum.pine64.org) +-- Forum: Pinebook Pro (https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=111) +--- Forum: Linux on Pinebook Pro (https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=114) +--- Thread: bootloader menu to pick a kernel - what is the current situation in in early 2022? (/showthread.php?tid=15918) |
bootloader menu to pick a kernel - what is the current situation in in early 2022? - maxtothemax - 01-30-2022 Hi all. I'm trying to compile and boot a custom kernel on my PineBook Pro. Trying to add some printk instrumentation to troubleshoot a type C hotplug issue I'm having, but I'm getting stuck even getting the kernel to boot at all. I don't want to outright replace my stock kernel, I just want to be able to pick the kernel I want at boot time. Ideally I would want to stick to the principle of a 100% free software (or close to it) process, and using a second computer with a serial cable is not attractive to me. I am reluctant to try any option that makes my custom kernel the default, unless I also have a working boot menu that lets me pick the stock kernel. I am using the manjaro OS that came preinstalled, fully updated. I am using the default partition map and bootloader. I have tried editing my /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf to look like this: Code: Timeout 10 I have also tried using the kexec method. I wrote this script: Code: #! /bin/sh I found some prior forum threads on this subject, but it looks like the situation is evolving rapidly and the info there might not be up to date.
RE: bootloader menu to pick a kernel - what is the current situation in in early 2022? - jpalus - 02-02-2022 I'm doing kernel selection for more than a year so it's definitely possible. The biggest obstacle before was lack of display support in uboot but patches existed and since uboot 2021.07 it is mainlined. Things worth checking
RE: bootloader menu to pick a kernel - what is the current situation in in early 2022? - wpeckham - 02-02-2022 Another option: clone your system to a fast SD card. Boot from it and make sure it works properly. When the SD boot works well, move the custom kernel into place on the SD card and boot from it to test your kernel. Advantage 1. leaves your EMMC boot untouched! 2. Backout is remove the SD card and reboot: dead simple. 3. Retry is fix your custom kernel, copy into place on the SD card, and try again. Way less stress, dead simple, portable, and repeatable. RE: bootloader menu to pick a kernel - what is the current situation in in early 2022? - maxtothemax - 02-02-2022 Those are some good breadcrumbs, thanks! I'll report results this weekend. RE: bootloader menu to pick a kernel - what is the current situation in in early 2022? - maxtothemax - 02-05-2022 Partial success! I did add the MENU LABEL lines to extlinux.conf, but I am not sure whether that was actually needed. What made the difference in the end was switching from "uboot-pinebookpro-bsp" to "uboot-pinebookpro" ("pacman -S uboot-pinebookpro" and then follow the directions that get printed on the command line.) This gets me a bootloader menu to pick a kernel like I wanted, and it can boot the stock kernel successfully. Unlike some of older reports I found on the forums, in my experience, switching to mainline u-boot did not make booting unreliable and suspend works fine. When I pick my custom kernel, I get the same blank screen behavior that I saw with the kexec method, but I guess that just means there's something wrong with my kernel and I can troubleshoot that separately. I have the bootloader behavior I wanted, so I'll mark this thread as solved. |