rootnoverify device [hdbias] [Command]
Similar to root (see Section 13.3.31 [root], page 36), but don’t attempt to mount
the partition. This is useful for when an OS is outside of the area of the disk that
GRUB can read, but setting the correct root device is still desired. Note that the
items mentioned in root above which derived from attempting the mount will not
work correctly.
makeactive [Command]
Set the active partition on the root disk to GRUB’s root device. This command is
limited to primary PC partitions on a hard disk.
“makeactive” is not necessary for most of the modern operating systems.
不过还是没明白makeactive是把一个不活动的主分区makeactive,还是把一个已经是活动分区的主分区makeactive。应该是前者吧。系统读取mbr以后就把引导权交给了机器上唯一的一个活动的主分区了,再要想引导别的不活动的主分区就要makeactive了。不过我不用makeactive,一样可以引导freebsd5.x(前提是指定fb的切片,而不是挂载点。例如“root (hd0,1)”而不是“roor (hd0,1,a)”)。这可能就是手册上说的“This is not necessary for most of the modern operating systems.”