Can GRUB load an ELF file without a multiboot header?

Question

I have always assumed that this is not the case, however, an FAQ for a tutorial I have read recently implies that it is:

Why the multiboot header? Wouldn't a pure ELF file be loadable by GRUB anyway?

GRUB is capable of loading a variety of formats. However, in this tutorial we are creating a Multiboot compliant kernel that could be loaded by any other compliant bootloader. To achieve this, the multiboot header is mandatory.

I tried to Google it immediately, without any useful results. So: Does GRUB support loading ELF files without a multiboot header?

See this answer: http://stackoverflow.com/a/17921401/138792 – Martijn van den Broek Oct 01 '14 at 14:51 — Martijn van den Broek, Oct 01 '14 at 14:51

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:33

2

Technically, the answer is yes. But only in the form of GRUB loadable modules.

See also Grub bootloader with shared library support.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:33

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answered Oct 02 '14 at 07:34

unixsmurf

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Can GRUB load an ELF file without a multiboot header?

Why the multiboot header? Wouldn't a pure ELF file be loadable by GRUB anyway?

1 Answers1