PortableGfxboot
Launchpad Entry: https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/portable-gfxboot
Created: Date(2006-06-08T08:16:03Z) by ColinWatson
Contributors: ColinWatson
Packages affected: gfxboot, syslinux?, grub?, lilo?, yaboot?
Summary
Make gfxboot portable to non-x86 architectures and to modern x86 systems with limited BIOS compatibility.
Rationale
In Dapper, we added gfxboot to our amd64 and i386 CD images, providing a friendly graphical boot menu as the first thing users see when booting Ubuntu CD images on those architectures. Unfortunately, gfxboot is currently a huge pile of x86 assembly, and cannot be ported to other architectures (such as powerpc) without a total rewrite; furthermore it relies on the x86 BIOS and VGA so it won't work on Intel-based Macs without BootCamp. Research the feasibility of gradually rewriting the architecture-independent parts of gfxboot, chiefly the language interpreter, in C; it will then be possible to support other systems with a much smaller amount of work.
Use cases
Scope
Design
Implementation
Code
Outstanding issues