Re: [PATCH] New x86_64 EFI patch

[Isaac Dupree]

Bean wrote:
> > > Also, you can try adding video=efifb to the command line, does it show
> > > kernel message ?
> > I'll try that soon, does it need any special customization of the kernel?
>
> You can try the kernel I extract from Fedora's efidisk:
>
> http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/grub2/efi.rar
>
> It's 2.6.25. But there is a small problem with this kernel, the screen
> would scramble after some kernel output. This is caused by the agp
> driver, not grub's fault.

Results:
Whatever linux kernel I pick, adding video=efifb to its commandline 
causes grub to output a couple extra lines in response to `linux`:
Video mode: address@hidden
Video framebuffer: 80000000

Even with video=efifb, the Ubuntu kernel works no better.  But that 
Fedora kernel you mentioned, does work:
- with video=efifb, the penguin and kernel messages flash onto the 
screen for a moment before the screen turns into gibberish.
- without, the screen just turns into different gibberish, which is 
still an improvement over the GRUB screen remaining there :-)

Of course, that Linux kernel doesn't bring me to anything *usable*... 
but it shows that we're loading Linux and it's probably possible to work 
in practice by compiling a new enough Linux with the right configs (and 
maybe patches)


> > > > - appleloader always tells me "Model : Core Duo/Solo" and nothing else
> > > > (no
> > > > matter whether I give it a parameter or not).  If I say "boot" nothing
> > > > happens, it just stays in GRUB prompt and I can enter more commands.
> > > >  (admittedly, I think I didn't *have* anything to boot in my CD drive,
> > > > USB
> > > > or MBR)
> > > The model is quite old, it's possible that it uses xom. Is there a
> > > /System/Library/CoreServices/xom.efi in the OSX partition ?
> > only one year old :)))
>
> Interesting, according to refit, this should be an early 2006 model.
> Refit does work, doesn't it ?

refit doesn't tell *me* anything about the model when I'm in refit.  In 
case what your appleloader says was confusing you, I actually have a 
2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU (yes, 64-bit capable, I've just never used 
it in that way).  I'm still running refit 0.9 though since I never yet 
bothered to upgrade to 0.10 or 0.11, and since it works fine for me.

-Isaac