1 Starting with 1.47, changes marked with SYSLINUX/PXELINUX/ISOLINUX
2 apply to that specific program only; other changes apply to all of
6 * SYSLINUX: Fix performance regression (-s mode always
8 * Add API function for idle loop.
9 * libutil: Add do_idle() function for idle loop, make
11 * libutil: Add SHA-1 and base64 functions.
12 * Simple menu system: add password support.
13 * EXTLINUX: Sparse files now handled correctly.
14 * EXTLINUX: Large directories now handled correctly.
15 * ALL: At the prompt, Ctrl-X now forces text mode.
16 * Fix configuration file parsing error, that could cause
18 * Rewritten advanced menuing system from Murali Ganapathy.
19 * MEMDISK: New "bigraw" mode to work around certain broken
21 * COM32 module to boot Multiboot systems, including Xen. See
22 com32/modules/mboot.doc.
23 * Max command line changed to 1024 characters. Note that the
24 kernel proper still can only handle 255 characters without
25 patching, and COM16 binaries can only handle 125 characters.
28 * Fix chainloading (chain.c32).
29 * Fix zlib build problem.
30 * Use a private copy of <linux/ext2_fs.h>.
33 * Fix typo that caused the ramdisk to load in the wrong place.
36 * New API function "shuffle and boot"; allows COM32 modules to
37 load or construct (almost) arbitrarily complex objects,
38 e.g. a kernel and its initrd/initramfs in pieces, and have
39 the API core reorganize memory for booting. (A library API
40 for this function will be introduced in a later version.)
41 * The initrd= option now supports multiple filenames separated
42 by commas. This is mostly useful for initramfs, which can
43 be composed of multiple separate cpio or cpio.gz archives.
44 (Note: all files except the last one are zero-padded to a 4K
45 page boundary. This should not affect initramfs.)
46 * EXTLINUX: Fix API function 000Ah (get derivative-specific
48 * libcom32/ethersel: Support PCI Config Mechanism #2 on
49 machines still infested with that hideous old hack.
50 * SYSLINUX: Fix directory-parsing bug.
53 * SYSLINUX: The "unix" installer now sets the MS-DOS
54 attributes (hidden, system, readonly.)
55 * COM32 library: build the .lnx (test modules for running
56 under Linux) as architecture native modules, in case
57 i386 devel libraries aren't installed.
58 * EXTLINUX: Hack for systems which don't have BLKGETSIZE64
59 defined in the standard header files.
60 * Simple menu system: minor aestetic improvements, and try to
61 work better over a serial console (speed, and readability on
62 monochrome terminal emulators.)
63 * New CONSOLE directive to control output on the video console
64 (useful for dealing with some broken serial-forwarding
66 * New com32 module "ethersel" for searching for an Ethernet
67 card and selecting the proper version of Etherboot.
68 * EXTLINUX: Allow the user to override the detected geometry.
72 * EXTLINUX, SYSLINUX: Fix compile errors on some systems.
73 * EXTLINUX: Default to zipdrive geometry (64 heads, 32
74 sectors) if no other geometry can be detected.
77 * SYSLINUX: Support FAT32 and EDD. As an unfortunate
78 consequence, LDLINUX.SYS is no longer an ordinary file; it
79 is block-mapped at install time, which means it can only be
80 written using the syslinux installers.
81 * SYSLINUX: Reorganize the source code for the installers;
82 each one of the installers (dos, win32, unix, mtools) is now
83 built in its own subdirectory. In particular, "mtools" is
84 the unprivileged installer which uses mtools; "unix" is the
85 privileged installer which uses system calls.
86 * SYSLINUX: Completely rewritten DOS installer in C.
87 * ALL: "label" statement information is now stored in a
88 compressed format, which means that a lot more labels are
89 permitted (500-1000 in a typical configuration, but depends
91 * EXTLINUX: New derivative, which boots from an ext2/ext3
93 * SYSLINUX: The DOS and Win32 installers can now optionally
94 write the boot sector to a file instead of the real boot
95 sector. This is not supported in the Linux installers,
97 * ALL: New NOESCAPE command, disables the "hold down the Shift
98 key to display the prompt" behaviour.
99 * New simple menu system, as an alternative to the advanced
100 menu system already present. See README.menu for details.
101 * PXELINUX: Filenames can now be prefixed with an IP address
102 or DNS name plus :: (e.g. 192.0.2.1::filename or
103 server.domain.com::filename), which downloads a file from an
104 alternate TFTP server, or just a :: (e.g. ::filename), which
105 suppresses the common pathname prefix. See pxelinux.doc.
106 * SYSLINUX: Add an -m option to the DOS and Win32 installers
107 to write an MBR and -a to mark the partition SYSLINUX is
108 being installed on active.
109 * MEMDISK: Give a way to query the boot loader type while
110 running MEMDISK; see memdisk/memdisk.doc and
112 * mkdiskimage: substantially improved mkdiskimage which, among
113 other things, can now be used to initialize USB keys as
114 zipdrives; see README.usbkey for more information.
117 * MEMDISK: Fix command-line parsing "brown paper bag" class
119 * MEMDISK: Add "raw" mode to support the DOS boot disk from
120 WinME/XP, which seems to deliberately crash the system
121 when someone uses the "INT 15h mover" highmem API.
122 * Make "make install" do something sane for the com32
123 development environment.
124 * In the spec file, create a separate -devel RPM for the com32
125 development environment.
128 * Simple C library, based on klibc, for writing COM32
130 * Fix the handling of file length in loading of COM32
132 * MEMDISK: Work around a linker bug by rearranging the code to
133 not use the linker for the 16-bit code.
134 * SYSLINUX: If we're building on a machine without a Win32
135 (mingw) compiler, just skip building syslinux.exe.
136 * ISOLINUX: Support non-mkisofs mastering programs, at least
137 as long as the image is single-session. For best results,
138 ISOLINUX should be the only boot loader installed.
139 * MEMDISK: Allow the user to specify that the simulated disk
140 should be write-protected.
143 * ALL: Add an API call to get the configuration file name.
144 * SYSLINUX: Fix bug in 2.10 that prevented it from working
145 correctly for a lot of people.
146 * SYSLINUX: In the installer, make mtools a bit less fussy.
147 * Make the menu system compile with newer gcc's.
150 * MEMDISK: Handle images compressed with zip as well as with
151 gzip. Some Windows-based image tools apparently generate
152 these kinds of images by default. Patch by Patrick
154 * Major menu improvement from Murali Ganapathy.
155 * ISOLINUX: Wonderfully sick and brilliant workaround for
156 severe bugs in certain Award BIOSes; from Knut Petersen.
157 * SYSLINUX: Fix for the nomtools installed, from Frederic
159 * PXELINUX: Fix handling of IP numbers in the ranges
161 * ALL: New option "allowoptions" (defaults to 1), which
162 controls if options are allowed on the command line or not.
163 * SYSLINUX: Support building under klibc (see the klibc
164 distribution for details.)
167 * SYSLINUX: Remove residual setuid crap from
169 * Handle video pages correctly when using the API functions.
170 * Handle compiling on an x86-64 platform correctly.
171 * Menu system from Murali Krishnan Ganapathy; see the menu
172 directory for information.
173 * COMBOOT: Allow COMBOOT programs to change screen text mode.
174 * COMBOOT: Correct the documentation of how to detect
175 SYSLINUX from COMBOOT!!!!
176 * COMBOOT: Fix "get key without echo" API function.
177 * SYSLINUX: Fix bug that affected the API open function.
178 * ALL: Improve the E820 memory parser, to work around some
182 * Add new configuration command "ontimeout" to allow timeout
183 to have a different action than just pressing Enter.
184 * Add new configuration command "onerror" to allow a custom
185 command to be executed in case the kernel image is not found.
186 * Fix bugs in the COMBOOT/COM32 command-line parsing. APPEND
187 now works with COMBOOT/COM32 images.
188 * PXELINUX: Poll for ARP requests while sitting at the
189 prompt. This makes some boot servers a lot less unhappy.
190 * PXELINUX: Actually free sockets when we get a failure
191 (including file not found.) This bug would cause us to run
192 out of sockets and thus "go deaf" after a while.
193 * MEMDISK: Add an API to query for the existence of MEMDISK.
194 * SYSLINUX: Fix loading boot sectors (.bs/.bss) from floppy
196 * .c32 is now one of the extensions searched for
198 * PXELINUX: RFBG.exe seems to randomly overwrite memory
199 location 0x5700. Thus, don't use it!
200 * PXELINUX: Change pathname length max from 63 to 127; change
201 max vkernels from 128 to 64.
202 * Support Ctrl-U -> kill entire command line input.
203 * The "samples" directory contains a (barely at all tested)
204 chain loading example, chain.c32, which may be used to
205 chainload local floppy disks and hard disks. Use with
206 "chain fdN" or "chain hdN [partition]"; N = 0 for the first
210 * MEMDISK: Workaround for BIOSes which go into a snit when
211 they get a RESET command for the floppy system when there is
212 no floppy in the system.
213 * PXELINUX: Add "ipappend 2", which passes the hardware
214 address of the boot interface to the kernel as a
216 * mkdiskimage: fix the generation of the end limit.
217 * PXELINUX: Fix multiple bugs in chainloading of other NBPs.
218 * MEMDISK: Fix bug that would occationally cause "ran out of
219 input data" when using compressed disk images.
220 * SYSLINUX: Updates for the win32 installer (from Lars Munch.)
221 * PXELINUX: PXELINUX-specific options are now recognized both
222 in a vendor-option-space (a.k.a. type 43 encapsulated) as
223 well as in a site-option-space (unencapsulated.)
224 * COM32: Don't crash when DS != 0.
225 * COMBOOT/COM32: Make file reading work correctly. Thanks to
226 Phung Chi Kien for submitting a test program.
229 * ALL: Fix problem that would occationally cause a
230 boot failure, depending on the length of the kernel.
231 * ISOLINUX: Fix problem that would occationally cause a
232 boot failure, depending on the length of directories.
233 * SYSLINUX: Win32 installer now flushes buffers.
234 * ppmtolss16: Be fully compliant with the PNM spec;
235 actually process comments in the header and odd
236 alignments of the various parameters, as well as
237 "plain" (not raw) files and PBM and PGM files.
238 * PXELINUX: Lower the default MTU to 1472 in order to deal
239 with systems with slightly nonstandard MTUs, and PXE
240 stacks which don't defragment correctly. Unfortunately this
241 is very hard to test dynamically.
244 * PXELINUX: Add a default query based on the hardware address
245 of the boot device. This is in lower case hexadecimal form
246 separated by dashes and including the hardware type, for
247 example, the Ethernet (type 1) address 88:99:AA:BB:CC:DD
248 would query the file pxelinux.cfg/01-88-99-aa-bb-cc-dd.
249 * PXELINUX: Fix bug involving non-IP-based config file names.
250 * SYSLINUX: New installer for WinNT-based systems, from Lars
252 * MEMDISK: Fix handling of memory region overlap when
253 decompressing. Thanks to Mikhail Kupchik for identifying
257 * ALL: Reclaim even more low memory by observing that
258 comboot_seg == real_mode_seg is perfectly fine, and by the
259 fact that the 1000h segment managed to get unused in all
261 * PXELINUX: Attempt to negotiate full Ethernet-sized blocks
262 (1468 bytes) using the blksize option.
263 * SYSLINUX: Resurrect the old no-mtools version of the
264 installer, although as a root-only tool. Some distributors
265 have indicated that they need a small standalone installer.
266 * MEMDISK: Fix a memory offset computation error when
267 installing compressed disks which generally would cause
268 1 MB of memory to be wasted.
269 * MEMDISK: Fix installing the E820 memory map. Calling
270 INT 15h AX=0E820h with MEMDISK 2.03 loaded would give a
271 completely corrupt memory map.
272 * SYSLINUX: Make libsyslinux a dynamic library, so that it can
273 be updated separately from client programs. The whole idea,
274 after all, is to enable alternate programs to become
276 * Include an rpm spec file in the distribution, so rpmbuild
280 * Actually support comment lines in the configuration file.
281 * PXELINUX: Try to resolve some problems with stack switches.
282 * PXELINUX: Handle PXE stacks with broken routing.
283 With these workarounds, the remote install PXE boot floppy
284 (rbfg.exe) from Argon Technologies should work correctly.
285 * Fix problems with Perl scripts in UTF-8 locales.
286 * You probably need NASM 0.98.34 or later to compile this
287 version. 0.98.36 is recommended.
288 * MEMDISK: Now supports gzip compressed images.
291 * SYSLINUX: Security flaws have been found in the SYSLINUX
292 installer when running setuid root. Rewrite the SYSLINUX
293 installer so it uses mtools instead. It therefore now
294 requires mtools (specifically mcopy and mattrib) to exist on
295 your system, but it will not require root privileges and
296 SHOULD NOT be setuid.
299 * MEMDISK: Fix memory sizing bug when the ramdisk crosses the
301 * MEMDISK: Add a "pause" option to stop immediately before
302 booting, to read off the messages.
303 * MEMDISK: Support disk images with DOSEMU headers.
304 * Update the mkdiskimage script to handle newer mtools
305 versions, and be able to generate disk images with DOSEMU
306 headers (controlled by the -d option).
307 * Fix the COM32 sample program.
308 * PXELINUX, ISOLINUX: Fix some COMBOOT API calls.
310 * Build SYSLINUX into a small library for encapsulation into
311 other programs (however, please keep in mind this is a GPL'd
313 * SYSLINUX: Make installer work with "owner" in /etc/fstab.
314 * SYSLINUX: Fix issue with working on nonpartitioned hard disk
315 devices. THIS CONFIGURATION IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
318 * ALL: Add support for "COM32" (32-bit COMBOOT) images.
319 * ALL: Add an API for COMBOOT/COM32 images. See comboot.doc
320 for details. There is a C development environment for
321 COM32 being created; it should be ready at some point in
323 * Fix mbr.asm so that it actually works.
324 * SYSLINUX: The syslinux installer *SHOULD* now be safe to
326 * PXELINUX: Fix bug where PXELINUX would override random
327 chunks of the UNDI code segment! Thanks to Kevin Tran for
329 * ISOLINUX: Fix a bug related to slashes in pathnames.
330 * ISOLINUX: Fix a bug in handling initrds over 128 MB.
331 * ALL: Make the <Ctrl-V> key print out the version; this is
333 * Add a small script, mkdiskimage, to create a DOS-formatted
334 hard disk image using mtools. This may be useful in
335 conjunction with MEMDISK.
336 * ISOLINUX: Search for a /boot/isolinux directory as well as
338 * ALL: Fix a bug related to very long configuration files.
339 * PXELINUX: Work around a NASM bug which would result in no
340 delay before reset if an error occurs.
343 * ISOLINUX: Remove code no longer used which caused hangs on
344 some Toshiba laptops.
347 * ALL: NASM 0.98.32 or later is now required to build
348 SYSLINUX from sources.
349 * SYSLINUX: put back in the workaround for the BIOS floppy
350 table. This seems to be a requirement for "extended" floppy
351 formats to work correctly.
352 * SYSLINUX: No longer warn if one is trying to boot on a 286
353 or older. The above BIOS workaround no longer fits if the
354 requirement to use only 8086-compatible code in the early
355 boot is maintained. It made sense in 1994, but in 2002 a
356 286 or older is a museum object.
357 * SYSLINUX: Use a downright bizarre, stateful algorithm to try
358 to guess the maximum transfer size. I am *hoping* this will
359 cut down on the number of systems for which -s is required
360 to work at any acceptable speed.
361 * ISOLINUX: Add a few more workarounds for various broken El
363 * Make sure .depend files aren't accidentally packed...
364 * ALL: Fix bugs in the extension-detect code; this caused
365 files like COMBOOT images and CD boot sectors to be
366 mis-identified as Linux kernels and rejected.
367 * ALL: Fix the return from COMBOOT.
368 * ALL: Do some of the early groundwork for supporting DOS
369 system calls in COMBOOT.
370 * Get rid of unnecessary "near" directives, making the code
372 * PXELINUX: Put the PXE stack back in the init state before
373 invoking a chain-loaded NBP.
374 * PXELINUX: Actually found the combination of calls that
375 allows some (most?) PXE 2+ stacks to be unloaded from memory
377 * PXELINUX: Add "keeppxe" command-line option to disable
378 the standard unloading of the PXE stack.
381 * SYSLINUX: fix bug that would cause valid kernel images to be
385 * Work on removing gratuitous differences between modules.
386 * Break up the source in common and module-specific files.
387 * PXELINUX: Allow chaining of other PXE NBPs.
388 * ISOLINUX: Allow loading "CD-ROM boot sectors".
389 * ALL: generalize the definition of a boot sector/NBP.
392 * PXELINUX, ISOLINUX: Fix bugs in the new core code.
395 * Fix a "brown paper bag" class bug in the new core code.
398 * Major code restructuring.
399 * Relax the conventional memory limits somewhat.
400 * MEMDISK: Set up the "version number string" pointer in the
402 * SYSLINUX: Fix, again, "the bug that won't die": the use of
403 the offset parameter with the SYSLINUX installer.
404 * SYSLINUX: Fix possible superblock corruption problem in the
408 * Handle bug in the location of initrd.
411 * MEMDISK: Make compile with newer versions of gcc.
414 * ISOLINUX: Support booting disk image files (to boot DOS or
415 other non-Linux operating systems), *IF* the BIOS works
416 correctly; unfortunately many BIOSes apparently don't.
417 * Support Linux boot protocol version 2.03 (explicitly
418 specify the initrd address limit.)
419 * Handle small "pseudo-kernels"; images that use the Linux
420 kernel boot protocols but are less than 64K in size.
421 * MEMDISK: New subsystem; this is a driver which allows
422 legacy OSes to boot using an in-memory simulated disk.
423 See memdisk/memdisk.doc for more info.
424 * PXELINUX, ISOLINUX: Correctly handle files larger than 65535
425 blocks (32 MB for PXELINUX, 128 MB for ISOLINUX.)
426 * PXELINUX: Make a best-effort attempt at freeing all memory
427 claimed. From the looks of it, it will fail on most PXE
431 * Limited support for hardware flow control when using a
433 * Support specifying the serial port I/O address explicitly.
434 * Make DOS installer hopefully behave more nicely when used on
435 recent Windows versions.
436 * Fix returning to text mode when a font has been specified.
437 * Attempt to detect missing serial port hardware and disable
438 the serial port if there is nothing there.
441 * Make the ppmtolss16 program handle color conversion more
443 * Clean up "make install" target, honour INSTALLROOT if it
445 * SYSLINUX: Fix stack-smash bug identified by Steffen
447 * Hopefully fix return-to-text-mode on some graphics cards.
448 * ISOLINUX: Bug workaround for Award BIOS 4.51, and perhaps
449 other buggy BIOSes as well.
452 * PXELINUX: Allow the DHCP server to override the
453 configuration file name and pathname prefix, using
454 "site-specific" DHCP options.
455 * PXELINUX: Documentation fixes.
456 * PXELINUX: Fix the "ipappend" option; the last two values
457 were reversed vs. what the kernel expected.
458 * Introduce a way to return to text mode once we are already
459 in graphics mode. This may be useful for F-key help
461 * Fix several bugs in the way return to text mode was handled.
464 * ISOLINUX: Support full pathname searches. Max length for a
465 pathname is 255 characters. As a result, only 64 "label"
466 statements are supported in ISOLINUX.
467 * PXELINUX: Max filename length extended to 63 characters.
470 * Add support for graphical splash screens.
471 * Add mode control characters, which allows you to control
472 message display output depending on output mode (text,
473 graphics, or serial port.)
474 * ISOLINUX: New program, which boots Linux from a CD-ROM
475 without using floppy emulation mode. See isolinux.doc for
477 * PXELINUX: Don't search for boot sector file types, since
478 they don't work anyway.
479 * SYSLINUX: Document the LOCK command for Win9x, and the error
480 dialog box for WinNT/2K.
483 * PXELINUX: Fix code for finding !PXE from PXENV+. This was
484 due to a spec bug; match the most recent spec since that
485 seems to be what implementations actually do.
486 * SYSLINUX: Add some smarts to the boot sector, which
487 hopefully should reduce the number of systems which require
488 stupid mode ("syslinux -s").
489 * PXELINUX: Document further some of the pathologies with old
491 * When specifying a "default" command line, no longer
492 automatically appent "auto". See the "DEFAULT" command in
493 syslinux.doc for more information.
494 * PXELINUX: Clean up the allocation of local socket numbers.
497 * PXELINUX: Rename pxelinux.bin to pxelinux.0, to match what
498 most PXE servers seem to expect.
499 * PXELINUX: Update the DHCP/boot server setup documentation.
500 * PXELINUX: Support new "localboot" option for "label"
502 * PXELINUX: More robust parsing of DHCP/boot server packets.
503 * PXELINUX: Include a small utility program "gethostip" to
504 compute hexadecimal IP addresses.
507 * PXELINUX: Fix bugs introduced by new A20 code. (SYSLINUX
508 has also been changed for code consistency reasons, but I'm
509 pretty sure the changes are don't care on SYSLINUX.)
510 * Documentation updates.
511 * PXELINUX: Add "ipappend" option to generate an ip= option to
515 * PXELINUX: Not all PXE stacks fill in the IP address for a
516 type 3 cached info query. Use a type 2 cached info query
517 for this information (only.)
518 * Yet another attempt at A20 coding. Now support BIOS call
519 15:2401 as well, and handle machines which always have A20
521 * Support memory detection using INT 15h, AX=0E820h. BIOS
522 manufacturers have apparently gotten sloppy about keeping
523 INT 15h, AX=0E801h working properly.
524 * Don't issue <CR><LF> onto the serial port when we're doing
528 * Yet another A20-code update. It seems some "legacy-free"
529 machines and embedded gear simply don't have a KBC to talk
530 to, and that waiting for one will wait forever. Sigh.
533 * SYSLINUX: Implement a hack for BIOS drivers which hog significant
534 chunks of low memory during boot. (Note: PXELINUX already
535 had this modification. SYSLINUX does still require that the
536 low 512K is available; PXELINUX requires 384K. Machines
537 with a physical memory hole in the low 640K cannot boot
538 Linux no matter what.) Depending what the reason is for the
539 memory hole, a new kernel (2.4.0-test3-pre3 or later) may be
541 * SYSLINUX: Default installer binary now compiled against
542 glibc 2.1. If this is inappropriate for your system and you
543 still want to use the offical version of SYSLINUX, please
544 follow the instructions in "distrib.doc" to rebuild the
546 * SYSLINUX: Linux installer program now supports -o <offset>
547 option which does a loopback mount with the
548 -o loop,offset=<> option. Useful to run SYSLINUX on an
549 individual partition of a whole-harddisk image.
550 * Include the source code to a Master Boot Record (MBR)
551 functionally equivalent to the one installed DOS except it
552 includes EBIOS support, and should be resistant to geometry
553 changes. The MBR code is public domain.
554 * PXELINUX: Fix "double p" bug: if the tftp prefix was null,
555 all filenames would get a "p" preprended, e.g.
556 "ppxelinux.cfg" and "pvmlinux".
559 * PXELINUX: Workaround for PXE ROMs based on the Intel PXE PDK
560 3.0 build 071 and earlier: missing !PXE structure pointer.
561 * PXELINUX: Handle larger BOOTP/DHCP packages.
562 * PXELINUX: The command line passing was broken; fix.
563 * PXELINUX: Make COMBOOT images work.
564 * PXELINUX: Documentation on how to make booting work using
565 the PDK 3.0-derived clients, which aren't so generous as to
566 allow booting with only "PXEClient" specified.
569 * PXELINUX: RFC 1123 states that a TFTP implementation MUST
570 use adaptive timeout, "at least an exponential backoff of
571 retransmission timeout is necessary." Implement a very
572 simple exponential backoff for retransmits.
573 * PXELINUX: Updated documentation, including pointer to new
575 * PXELINUX: When sending ERROR due to bad OACK, use the proper
576 destination port number (why are TFTP port numbers so odd?)
577 * PXELINUX: If the boot dies in the middle somewhere,
578 eventually give up and reset the machine (unattended
582 * New program PXELINUX to do network booting using a
583 PXE-compliant (Pre-Execution Environment) network booting
584 PROM. See pxelinux.doc for details.
587 * Serial console support. See syslinux.doc for details.
590 * Change HIGHMEM_MAX to 38000000h to (hopefully) avoid the
591 kernel stepping on it; 3f000000h was apparently a higher
592 limit than the kernel used!
595 * Add sys2ansi.pl script to display the contents of a
596 colorized SYSLINUX file.
597 * Changed the io_delay once again, after a report that the
598 old delay port causes hangs on some systems.
601 * Frob the "fast A20 gate" port as well as the keyboard
602 controller; will this help systems with problems?
603 * Be even more paranoid about A20, unfortunately even this
604 seems to be not paranoid enough... what I don't understand
605 is that if there is hardware out there *this broken*, how
606 can it run Linux at all? Report an error message rather
607 than hang forever if A20 is stuck.
608 * Include some intermediate files in the distribution, plus
609 provide a "make installer" target for distributors to relink
610 the install programs only. I would prefer the syslinux boot
611 loader proper to be "binary clean" for debuggablity -- use
612 "make clean ; make installer" to rebuild the installers only.
615 * Don't get confused by directories, volume labels, or VFAT
617 * Use INT 15h, AX=0E801h to query memory size before trying
618 INT 15h, AH=88h. This not only provides more headroom
619 between the kernel and the initrd on large-memory machines,
620 but it appears some recent BIOSes actually have started
621 returning garbage for the AH=88h (older) call.
622 * Trust high memory beyond the 15 MB mark if the user has
623 specified it, or if obtained with INT 15h, AH=0E801h (with
624 no memory holes above 1 MB.)
627 * Increase A20M delay and put in a test to avoid problems on
628 certain IBM Thinkpads (thanks to Donnie Barnes of RedHat
629 for vital info on this one.)
630 * Support COMBOOT style boot command images.
631 * Support chain loading (foreign operating systems, e.g. DOS).
632 * Include a new "copybs" DOS utility to copy a boot sector to
633 a file (under Linux, use "dd".)
634 * Fix the DOS installer to work for disks over 32 MB.
635 * SYSLINUX should now handle disks with more than 65536 tracks.
638 * Fix a bug that caused "label" statements in syslinux.cfg to
639 not be handled properly.
640 * Updated the documentation. Among other things, we now allow
641 up to 128 "label" statements.
644 * Fix for booting old (pre-initrd) kernels.
645 * It seems at least some versions of OS/2 doesn't set up all
646 the fields in the superblock correctly. Account for that.
647 * Fix bug that caused boot failure when using the mem= option.
650 * Loading from partitions now should work properly. (Actually
651 tested, this time. You should even be able to dd a floppy
652 to a partition and boot from it.)
653 * Removed large workaround code for an alleged ancient BIOS
654 bug I have never actually seen. The -s option should work
655 on those machines, anyway.
656 * Support for simple keyboard remappings, same as used by
657 LILO (once again to support localization.) The program
658 keytab-lilo.pl from the LILO distribution included to
660 * Added a "safe, slow and stupid" (-s) option to the
661 installers. This option will lobotomize the boot sector to
662 hopefully work on even very buggy BIOSes.
665 * Ability to load a VGA font on bootup (for localized Linux
669 * Bug fix in the Linux installer.
670 * Added a workaround for a bug in certain AMI/Intel BIOSes
671 when booting from CD-ROM.
672 * Documentation changes.
675 * FAT16 filesystems are now supported.
678 * Now compiles under Linux, using NASM, rather than using
679 Turbo Assembler under DOS. See http://www.cryogen.com/Nasm
680 for information about NASM.
681 * Linux-hosted SYSLINUX installer, as well as a
682 rewritten DOS installer (now is written in assembler, so we
686 * Added support for loading bzImage and initrd loading, and made
687 SYSLINUX new-setup-code aware (SYSLINUX 1.30 id=0x31).
688 * Added LILO-style kernel labels; see the LABEL and IMPLICIT
689 keywords in README file.
690 * Added support for colorization of intro and help screens.
691 * The vga= option is now handled correctly.
692 * Massive rewrite of large chunks of the code in order to
693 support the first two new features.
696 * Added simple online help at the "boot:" prompt.
697 * Removed 2880K image as I no longer have access to such a
698 floppy drive. (Donations accepted!!)
699 * Decided to distribute the source in a subdirectory rather
700 than in a nested zipfile.
703 * Removed a sanity check which would cause booting to fail on
704 Phoenix BIOS version 4.03. Apparently this BIOS is buggy.
707 * Added configuration file SYSLINUX.CFG. This file contains all
708 configurable options, and can be edited from any OS which can
709 access an MS-DOS filesystem; there is no longer a need to run
710 SYSLINUX.EXE except to write the boot sector.
711 * Default command line now given by "default" line in config
713 * LINUXMSG.TXT and BOOTMSG.TXT hard-coded file names replaced by
714 "display" and "prompt" lines in config file.
715 * LILO-style option appending now supported ("append" line in
717 * Prompt timeout is now supported ("timeout" line in config
718 file). The timeout is cancelled when anything is typed on the
720 * Pressing <ESC> or <Ctrl-C> at the Loading... stage now aborts
721 the kernel loading in progress and returns the user to the
723 * The installer now automatically sets the READONLY flag on
725 * Added 2880K disk image.
728 * Fixed bug that would prevent booting from double-density
729 floppies and other DOS filesystems with multiple sectors per
731 * Added 720K disk image.
732 * Changed default kernel name on disk images to LINUX.
735 * Fixed bug that would garble the command line on recent kernels
736 with more than 4 sectors of setup code (this wasn't really a
737 *bug*; rather, a kernel change broke the code. Unfortunately
738 the Linux boot interface is still sorely undocumented).
739 * Added BOOTMSG.TXT file support (message file which does not
740 force display of the boot prompt).
743 * Fixed bug on some (most?) 386 BIOSes would require two boot