palo v2.22 released - PA-RISC bootloader v2.22

palo v2.22 released - PA-RISC bootloader v2.22

[Helge Deller]

Hello everyone,

I've released a new version of the PA-RISC bootloader "palo" v2.22.
The new version is available via git:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/deller/palo.git/
A pre-compiled debian package is available at:
http://parisc.parisc-linux.org/ftp/palo/palo_2.22_hppa.deb

Former palo versions were limited that the Linux Kernel and initrd
had to be located in the first 2GB of the drive, e.g. stored in the
palo partition or in an ext2-formatted /boot partition.

With the new palo release, this limitation isn't valid any longer
for the majority of PA-RISC machines. All newer machines, starting
from B/C-class (e.g. B160L) and all 64-bit machines (B2000, C3000, C8000)
provide firmware boot capatibility > 2GB, which is now being used by
palo if available.

If the firmware provides such support, palo will report at bootup:
 Boot limited to sectors below 2GB: NO

In that case, you may omit creation of a palo and /boot partition
and boot directly from any ext2/ext3/ext4 partition on this drive.

If you want to test the new version, simply build palo from source,
or use the debian package mentioned above. After installation, run
"palo -v" once to update the bootloader on your boot drive.
If you test, please let me know if it worked for you.

I'll upload this new version to the debian unstable archives soon.

Helge