bootboot-loadergrublilolinux
I am making a netinstall DVD which will have netinstall for 10 different Linux distros on it. I will need to install a bootloader on the disk so I can choose which distro I want to install.
Which is the easiest to set up and put on a disc – LILO or GRUB? Or are there even easier ones? I don't need any advanced settings, etc – I just need a simple, easy to set up, bootloader.
EDIT: It seems that GRUB2 is the problem in this case, after all. I'm keeping my original answer below just for reference and as an explanation for similar problems people may have.
The boot delay you are referring to is the time needed for the kernel and initramfs image to be loaded to RAM. The blame is not on bootloader, it is on the size of your kernel/initramfs and storage (CF card) throughput.
You can easily test the speed of your storage using either dd (if you have it installed on your embedded system) or cat. Just substitute /dev/sda1 below with the name of the block device representing the boot partition on that system (you can usually check that using the mount command).
dd: dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/nullcat + time: time cat /dev/sda1 > /dev/null (In the second case, you'd need to calculate the rate manually.)
If your root partition is too large to wait for the commands to finish, just press Ctrl+C after some time (but not less than about one minute, to make the test reliable).
After trying all sorts of things, none of which made any difference, I finally figured out that what I had to do was disable fastboot in my BIOS. In my case, it was:
Changing that from "Minimal" to "Thorough" let me go straight to my bootloader without needing to hit F12.
Best Answer
SysLinux/IsoLinux is a passable and popular choice for booting off El Torito-compliant optical media.
But if your needs are somewhat non-standard, the most flexible solution is definitely GRUB (doesn't get more flexible than that without it being a full operating system). It's also the least easy to make an El Torito loader out of, but this may have changed in GRUB 2. It's been a while since I checked.
I haven't used LILO since the dark ages, and I'm not entirely sure it even has an El Torito bootstrap.