Re: GPT boot has less features than legacy MBR-based one (Was: UEFI, loader.efi and /boot.config)

> On 19 Jan 2019, at 11:52, Lev Serebryakov <lev_at_FreeBSD.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Warner,
> 
> Saturday, January 19, 2019, 12:17:29 AM, you wrote:
> 
>> Also most UEFI BIOSes I've used (which isn't a lot) allow one to choose
>> which BootXXXX variable to use to boot. Some will even create new BootXXXX
>> variables that they use when you choose a raw device to boot from.
> I have never seen such item in BIOS Setup. I've checked two MoBos now (one is
> Supermicro X9something and other is brand-new Goldmont-based Chinese MiniPC
> like Intel NUK): both have one knob in setup about boot type
> (Legacy/UEFI/Auto) and if UEFI is selected, Supermicro MoBo (but not Chinese
> one) could be booted to "UEFI Console" which is not documented anywhere.
> 
> Ok, I've checked my desktop Asus Z170-A, but it is graphical and I could
> not find or understand anything in this home-rown UI with crazy-fast mouse.
> 
> I have never seen documentation in MoBo manuals about such features, BTW.
> 
> And, again, GPT/Legacy still left behind, and it could be very useful for
> small systems, as sometimes 4 partitions of MBR is not enough (2 code
> partitions + 1 config partition + 1 persistent data partition, and
> SOMETIMES, there is place for swap, for example, but MBR is full already).
> 

you can always create BSD label inside MBR slice. Also you can add chain_disk=devicename:  into loader.conf and get same one key selection in boot menu (or Boot Enviroments for that matter). There is no need to struggle with 446 byte asm code when you have full power from your boot loader.

rgds,
toomas