Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-20 Thread Kevin Kofler
Jon Masters wrote:
> As a technical user, it's another thing I immediately have to "fix"
> post-install,

Yeah, this is one of the first things I change after installing Fedora, 
(along with disabling SELinux and switching KDE to the classic menu instead 
of Kickoff).

Kevin Kofler

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-19 Thread Matthew Garrett
This patch, that is.

-- 
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diff -ur grub-0.97.clean/stage2/asm.S grub-0.97/stage2/asm.S
--- grub-0.97.clean/stage2/asm.S2010-05-19 13:18:50.638314187 -0400
+++ grub-0.97/stage2/asm.S  2010-05-19 13:23:39.273210663 -0400
@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@
 /* This variable is here only because of a historical reason.  */
 VARIABLE(saved_entryno)
.long   0
+VARIABLE(failed_boot)
+   .byte   0
 VARIABLE(stage2_id)
.byte   STAGE2_ID
 VARIABLE(force_lba)
diff -ur grub-0.97.clean/stage2/builtins.c grub-0.97/stage2/builtins.c
--- grub-0.97.clean/stage2/builtins.c   2010-05-19 13:18:50.692309957 -0400
+++ grub-0.97/stage2/builtins.c 2010-05-19 13:37:36.757188824 -0400
@@ -78,13 +78,23 @@
 int grub_timeout = -1;
 /* Whether to show the menu or not.  */
 int show_menu = 1;
+/* The bootflag. */
+char grub_bootflag = 0;
 /* The BIOS drive map.  */
 static unsigned short bios_drive_map[DRIVE_MAP_SIZE + 1];
 
 /* Prototypes for allowing straightfoward calling of builtins functions
inside other functions.  */
 static int configfile_func (char *arg, int flags);
-
+#if !defined(SUPPORT_DISKLESS) && !defined(GRUB_UTIL) && !defined(PLATFORM_EFI)
+static int bootflag_get (char *bootflag);
+#else
+static int bootflag_get (char *bootflag)
+{
+  *bootflag = 0;
+  return 0;
+}
+#endif
 /* Initialize the data for builtins.  */
 void
 init_builtins (void)
@@ -104,6 +114,8 @@
   fallback_entryno = -1;
   fallback_entries[0] = -1;
   grub_timeout = -1;
+  if (bootflag_get(&grub_bootflag))
+ grub_bootflag = 0;
 }
 
 /* Check a password for correctness.  Returns 0 if password was
@@ -401,6 +413,206 @@
   "Boot the OS/chain-loader which has been loaded."
 };
 
+#if !defined(SUPPORT_DISKLESS) && !defined(GRUB_UTIL) && !defined(PLATFORM_EFI)
+/* Get current boot flag from stage2 */
+static int
+bootflag_get(char *value)
+{
+  char *bootflag_ptr
+
+  /* Get the geometry of the boot drive (i.e. the disk which contains
+ this stage2).  */
+  if (get_diskinfo (boot_drive, &buf_geom))
+{
+  errnum = ERR_NO_DISK;
+  return 1;
+}
+
+  /* Load the second sector of this stage2.  */
+  if (! rawread (boot_drive, install_second_sector, 0, SECTOR_SIZE, buffer))
+{
+  return 1;
+}
+
+  /* Sanity check.  */
+  if (buffer[STAGE2_STAGE2_ID] != STAGE2_ID_STAGE2
+  || *((short *) (buffer + STAGE2_VER_MAJ_OFFS)) != COMPAT_VERSION)
+{
+  errnum = ERR_BAD_VERSION;
+  return 1;
+}
+  
+  bootflag_ptr = (char *) (buffer + STAGE2_FAILED_BOOT);
+  *value = *bootflag_ptr;
+  return 0;
+}
+
+/* Write boot flag into stage2 */
+static int
+bootflag_helper(int value)
+{
+  char *bootflag_ptr;
+
+  /* Get the geometry of the boot drive (i.e. the disk which contains
+ this stage2).  */
+  if (get_diskinfo (boot_drive, &buf_geom))
+{
+  errnum = ERR_NO_DISK;
+  return 1;
+}
+
+  /* Load the second sector of this stage2.  */
+  if (! rawread (boot_drive, install_second_sector, 0, SECTOR_SIZE, buffer))
+{
+  return 1;
+}
+
+  /* Sanity check.  */
+  if (buffer[STAGE2_STAGE2_ID] != STAGE2_ID_STAGE2
+  || *((short *) (buffer + STAGE2_VER_MAJ_OFFS)) != COMPAT_VERSION)
+{
+  errnum = ERR_BAD_VERSION;
+  return 1;
+}
+  
+  bootflag_ptr = (char *) (buffer + STAGE2_FAILED_BOOT);
+
+  *bootflag_ptr = value;
+
+  /* Save the image in the disk.  */
+  if (! rawwrite (boot_drive, install_second_sector, buffer))
+ return 1;
+  
+  /* Clear the cache.  */
+  buf_track = -1;
+
+  return 0;
+}
+#endif
+
+#if !defined(SUPPORT_DISKLESS) && defined(GRUB_UTIL)
+static int
+bootflag_shell(char *arg, int flags)
+{
+  char *stage2_os_file = "/boot/grub/stage2"; /* Default filename */
+  FILE *fp;
+  char buffer[512];
+  char *bootflag_ptr;
+  int new_bootflag;
+
+  while (1)
+{
+  if (grub_memcmp ("--stage2=", arg, sizeof ("--stage2=") - 1) == 0)
+{
+  stage2_os_file = arg + sizeof ("--stage2=") - 1;
+  arg = skip_to (0, arg);
+  nul_terminate (stage2_os_file);
+}
+  else if (grub_memcmp ("--bootflag=", arg, sizeof ("--bootflag=") - 1) == 
0)
+{
+  char *p = arg + sizeof ("--bootflag=") - 1;
+  if (! safe_parse_maxint (&p, &new_bootflag))
+return 1;
+  arg = skip_to (0, arg);
+}
+  else
+break;
+}
+
+  if (! (fp = fopen(stage2_os_file, "r+")))
+{
+  errnum = ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND;
+  return 1;
+}
+  
+  if (fseek (fp, SECTOR_SIZE, SEEK_SET) != 0)
+{
+  fclose (fp);
+  errnum = ERR_BAD_VERSION;
+  return 1;
+}
+  
+  if (fread (buffer, 1, SECTOR_SIZE, fp) != SECTOR_SIZE)
+{
+  fclose (fp);
+  errnum = ERR_READ;
+  return 1;
+}
+
+  /* Sanity check.  */
+  if (buffer[STAGE2_STAGE2_ID] != STAGE2_ID_STAGE2
+  || *((short *) (buffer + STAGE2_VER_MAJ_OFFS)) != COMPAT_VERSION)
+{
+  errnum = ERR_BAD_VERSION;
+  return 1;
+}
+  
+  boo

Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-19 Thread Matthew Garrett
On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:25:21PM +0100, Matthew Garrett wrote:

> We have this for SaveDefault. It ought to be possible to extend it and 
> then provide an application that resets the flag at the end of boot.

So something like this (entirely untested) patch - it sets a flag to 1 
on boot, and then at the end of a successful boot a grub script would 
need to be run to reset the flag to 0.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-19 Thread Alexander Boström
tis 2010-05-18 klockan 12:11 -0400 skrev Bill Nottingham:

> If you're really concerned about needing the timeouts when 'normal' bootup
> doesn't work, then why not write a patch that simply checks the time since
> last bootup (via mtime on grub.conf, or wahtever), and shows the menu if it's
> less than some predefined interval (say, 3 minutes?)

How accurate time does grub have? It can read the clock via BIOS and get
a +/- 13 hour accurate time, I guess.

Maybe a clean shutdown could cause "touch /boot/grub.good" (or
whatever). If grub.conf is newer than grub.good then add a few seconds
to the timeout and show the menu? That avoids relying on the clock.

One problem: Once you do whatever it was you needed to do in grub to get
your system back, you need to go edit grub.conf right away before you
reboot because you won't get another chance.

/Alexander


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-19 Thread Frank Ch. Eigler

Matthew Garrett  writes:

> [...]
>> [...] But still, the sensible path is to make
>> reasonable accommodations for this sort of thing. Let's face it, if
>> we're waiting on Sony or HP to fix this, we'll be waiting a while.

> Or, alternatively, we can actually look into the problem and determine 
> whether there's an elegant way of handling it.

Not "alternatively": "additionally" or "concurrently".

- FChE
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Ben Boeckel
In article  you 
wrote:
> Wait a sec, when the timeout is zero, don't you get access to the grub
> menu if you hold down the shift key?
> 
> I always thought that was grub's behaviour, not my PC's behaviour...

With an old Compaq machine, the BIOS errors with a 'Stuck key' message
if I mash any of the modifiers. This stops the boot before GRUB. Granted
it's running F11, but some BIOS's don't like keys being mashed at boot.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Jon Masters
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 23:27 +0100, Adam Williamson wrote:

> Another +1 for Bill's suggestion, that seems like a nice elegant way of
> trying to catch the broken cases.

Some distros take this a stage further with the failure "safe mode" boot
option, and that's also not a hugely wrong idea.

Jon.


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Matthew Garrett
On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 11:27:17PM +0100, Adam Williamson wrote:

> We can only take this Fedora principle so far. There are many bits of
> code in the kernel which work around broken ACPI / BIOS behaviour (as
> you well know, sorry for the egg-sucking lesson). If we were being
> really annoying literalists we (well, rather 'kernel developers' than
> 'we', but many of them are Fedora / RH people) would never do this; we'd
> close all the bugs with a note to the reporter to go and get their
> motherboard manufacturer to fix it. Being sensible people, we recognize
> there really *is* a limit to the 'we shouldn't work around brokenness'
> argument, and it comes when the brokenness is in the hands of such
> capricious souls as hardware manufacturers. The systems where holding
> down a key during boot doesn't bring up grub are badly designed systems,
> this is perfectly true. But still, the sensible path is to make
> reasonable accommodations for this sort of thing. Let's face it, if
> we're waiting on Sony or HP to fix this, we'll be waiting a while.

Or, alternatively, we can actually look into the problem and determine 
whether there's an elegant way of handling it.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Adam Williamson
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 15:43 +0100, Matthew Garrett wrote:
> On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:34:22AM -0400, Jon Masters wrote:
> 
> > Of course it shouldn't be zero. This is what I was saying yesterday. Now
> > if Fedora is really targeting end users who are non-technical (can we
> > decide this finally, sometime, please?) then this is valid. But if it's
> > true that we favor experienced computing users, it should not be zero.
> 
> The logic here is unclear. Technical users are surely the ones most able 
> to deal with this situation? I'll point out here that Windows gives no 
> visible prompt to obtain bootup options and the world doesn't seem to 
> have ended

I always enjoy the 'it's okay, everyone, we only have to be as good as
Windows!' argument. =)

Indeed the world hasn't ended, but certainly a lot of us get called
halfway across town on weekends to 'fix the computer' in this sort of
case.

>From a later post of yours:

"If you're unable to 
get to grub at all without setting a timeout then that's something that 
needs fixing, but we're better off exploring *why* your machine is 
behaving differently rather than bandaiding over it with a timeout and 
prompt."

We can only take this Fedora principle so far. There are many bits of
code in the kernel which work around broken ACPI / BIOS behaviour (as
you well know, sorry for the egg-sucking lesson). If we were being
really annoying literalists we (well, rather 'kernel developers' than
'we', but many of them are Fedora / RH people) would never do this; we'd
close all the bugs with a note to the reporter to go and get their
motherboard manufacturer to fix it. Being sensible people, we recognize
there really *is* a limit to the 'we shouldn't work around brokenness'
argument, and it comes when the brokenness is in the hands of such
capricious souls as hardware manufacturers. The systems where holding
down a key during boot doesn't bring up grub are badly designed systems,
this is perfectly true. But still, the sensible path is to make
reasonable accommodations for this sort of thing. Let's face it, if
we're waiting on Sony or HP to fix this, we'll be waiting a while.

Another +1 for Bill's suggestion, that seems like a nice elegant way of
trying to catch the broken cases.
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IRC: adamw | Fedora Talk: adamwill AT fedoraproject DOT org
http://www.happyassassin.net

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Matt McCutchen
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 22:25 +0100, Matthew Garrett wrote:
> On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 02:14:45PM -0700, Robert Relyea wrote:
> > I like the 2 boot time out options. If you clear the 'successful boot'
> > flag every time you start grub (after remembering what it said so you
> > can set the appropriate timeout) and set it again whenever the system
> > achieves the desirable 'boot state' then grub can detect boot failures
> > on the fly and increase the timeout if one is detected.
> 
> Yes, the failed boot menu is pretty handy.
> 
> > Downside: grub would need write access to a filesystem (or some other
> > permanment store) at boot time.
> 
> We have this for SaveDefault. It ought to be possible to extend it and 
> then provide an application that resets the flag at the end of boot.

Yes, as I already observed:

https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/devel/2010-May/136288.html

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Matthew Garrett
On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 02:14:45PM -0700, Robert Relyea wrote:
> On 05/18/2010 07:43 AM, Matthew Garrett wrote:
> > The logic here is unclear. Technical users are surely the ones most able 
> > to deal with this situation? I'll point out here that Windows gives no 
> > visible prompt to obtain bootup options and the world doesn't seem to 
> > have ended, so if we have machines where it's currently *impossible* to 
> > get to the grub menu then that sounds like a bug in grub that needs to 
> > be rectified.
> >   
> Take your Windows system and induce a failure during boot (like powering
> off in the middle).
> 
> I like the 2 boot time out options. If you clear the 'successful boot'
> flag every time you start grub (after remembering what it said so you
> can set the appropriate timeout) and set it again whenever the system
> achieves the desirable 'boot state' then grub can detect boot failures
> on the fly and increase the timeout if one is detected.

Yes, the failed boot menu is pretty handy.

> Downside: grub would need write access to a filesystem (or some other
> permanment store) at boot time.

We have this for SaveDefault. It ought to be possible to extend it and 
then provide an application that resets the flag at the end of boot.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Robert Relyea
On 05/18/2010 07:43 AM, Matthew Garrett wrote:
> On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:34:22AM -0400, Jon Masters wrote:
>
>   
>> Of course it shouldn't be zero. This is what I was saying yesterday. Now
>> if Fedora is really targeting end users who are non-technical (can we
>> decide this finally, sometime, please?) then this is valid. But if it's
>> true that we favor experienced computing users, it should not be zero.
>> 
> The logic here is unclear. Technical users are surely the ones most able 
> to deal with this situation? I'll point out here that Windows gives no 
> visible prompt to obtain bootup options and the world doesn't seem to 
> have ended, so if we have machines where it's currently *impossible* to 
> get to the grub menu then that sounds like a bug in grub that needs to 
> be rectified.
>   
Take your Windows system and induce a failure during boot (like powering
off in the middle).

I like the 2 boot time out options. If you clear the 'successful boot'
flag every time you start grub (after remembering what it said so you
can set the appropriate timeout) and set it again whenever the system
achieves the desirable 'boot state' then grub can detect boot failures
on the fly and increase the timeout if one is detected.

Downside: grub would need write access to a filesystem (or some other
permanment store) at boot time.

bob



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Description: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Matthew Garrett
On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 12:05:30PM -0400, Jon Masters wrote:

> I am in love with having a system that boots. And experience shows that
> I'm in the grub prompt quite often. Now admittedly, I'm doing kernel
> builds and the like, but even when I'm not, I'll often need to stick a
> parameter on a kernel boot line or choose a kernel to run. And then
> there's the bad upgrade[0] case in which grub proves useful too.

Nobody has suggested "Grub should not be available". Having a timeout of 
0 doesn't prevent any of the things you want to do. If you're unable to 
get to grub at all without setting a timeout then that's something that 
needs fixing, but we're better off exploring *why* your machine is 
behaving differently rather than bandaiding over it with a timeout and 
prompt.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Mat Booth
Wait a sec, when the timeout is zero, don't you get access to the grub
menu if you hold down the shift key?

I always thought that was grub's behaviour, not my PC's behaviour...

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Peter Jones
On 05/18/2010 12:18 PM, Jon Masters wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 12:11 -0400, Bill Nottingham wrote:
>> Jon Masters (jonat...@jonmasters.org) said: 
 If we put a bit more trust into our kernel updates, and can start making
 people a bit angry and filing bugs when there are regressions, maybe we
 can do away with that crappy crutch.
>>>
>>> User anger really isn't a good motivator.
>>
>> If you're really concerned about needing the timeouts when 'normal' bootup
>> doesn't work, then why not write a patch that simply checks the time since
>> last bootup (via mtime on grub.conf, or wahtever), and shows the menu if it's
>> less than some predefined interval (say, 3 minutes?)
> 
> That's actually a good idea. Doesn't help with my desire to have a grub
> timeout available always, but it's a reasonably neat solution and it
> does at least mean we get a timeout if we're likely not booting. I like
> it Bill, thanks for the suggestion.

I'd be interested in taking a patch to implement something like this, fwiw.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Jon Masters
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 12:11 -0400, Bill Nottingham wrote:
> Jon Masters (jonat...@jonmasters.org) said: 
> > > If we put a bit more trust into our kernel updates, and can start making
> > > people a bit angry and filing bugs when there are regressions, maybe we
> > > can do away with that crappy crutch.
> > 
> > User anger really isn't a good motivator.
> 
> If you're really concerned about needing the timeouts when 'normal' bootup
> doesn't work, then why not write a patch that simply checks the time since
> last bootup (via mtime on grub.conf, or wahtever), and shows the menu if it's
> less than some predefined interval (say, 3 minutes?)

That's actually a good idea. Doesn't help with my desire to have a grub
timeout available always, but it's a reasonably neat solution and it
does at least mean we get a timeout if we're likely not booting. I like
it Bill, thanks for the suggestion.

Jon.


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Bill Nottingham
Jon Masters (jonat...@jonmasters.org) said: 
> > If we put a bit more trust into our kernel updates, and can start making
> > people a bit angry and filing bugs when there are regressions, maybe we
> > can do away with that crappy crutch.
> 
> User anger really isn't a good motivator.

If you're really concerned about needing the timeouts when 'normal' bootup
doesn't work, then why not write a patch that simply checks the time since
last bootup (via mtime on grub.conf, or wahtever), and shows the menu if it's
less than some predefined interval (say, 3 minutes?)

Bill
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Jon Masters
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 16:49 +0100, Bastien Nocera wrote:

> If we put a bit more trust into our kernel updates, and can start making
> people a bit angry and filing bugs when there are regressions, maybe we
> can do away with that crappy crutch.

User anger really isn't a good motivator.

> > If it were up to me, there'd be a full bootloader prompt back too :)
> 
> And we'd be using work-arounds to get Macs running under Linux ;)

Yes, if it were up to me we would be shipping a lot more workarounds to
make things work out of the box today and not 6-12 months from now, but
that's a completely different story/thread.

Jon.


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Jon Masters
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 11:47 -0400, Matthias Clasen wrote:

> Several installation to choose from --> give the user time to make a
> choice
> Only one OS --> get it running as quickly as possible
> 
> I am certainly an experienced user, and I am still not in love with
> staring a a grub screen for so many seconds every boot.

I am in love with having a system that boots. And experience shows that
I'm in the grub prompt quite often. Now admittedly, I'm doing kernel
builds and the like, but even when I'm not, I'll often need to stick a
parameter on a kernel boot line or choose a kernel to run. And then
there's the bad upgrade[0] case in which grub proves useful too.

Jon.

[0] Fedora kernels are generally high quality, but the overall upgrade
"philosophy" (or non-philosophy) espoused on this list means that the
kernel is just one of many packages yum is told never to touch.


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Ville Skyttä
On Tuesday 18 May 2010, Jon Masters wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 15:43 +0100, Matthew Garrett wrote:
> > On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:34:22AM -0400, Jon Masters wrote:
> > > Of course it shouldn't be zero. This is what I was saying yesterday.
> > > Now if Fedora is really targeting end users who are non-technical (can
> > > we decide this finally, sometime, please?) then this is valid. But if
> > > it's true that we favor experienced computing users, it should not be
> > > zero.
> > 
> > The logic here is unclear.
> 
> As a technical user, it's another thing I immediately have to "fix"
> post-install,

Ditto, FWIW.
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Bastien Nocera
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 10:52 -0400, Jon Masters wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 15:43 +0100, Matthew Garrett wrote:
> > On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:34:22AM -0400, Jon Masters wrote:
> > 
> > > Of course it shouldn't be zero. This is what I was saying yesterday. Now
> > > if Fedora is really targeting end users who are non-technical (can we
> > > decide this finally, sometime, please?) then this is valid. But if it's
> > > true that we favor experienced computing users, it should not be zero.
> > 
> > The logic here is unclear.
> 
> As a technical user, it's another thing I immediately have to "fix"
> post-install, usually by rebooting a couple of times to make sure I get
> into grub at just the right moment. But moreso, it's become expected on
> Linux systems that one will get some kind of bootloader prompt/timeout. 

Probably because kernel updates often break, and you need a fallback.

If we put a bit more trust into our kernel updates, and can start making
people a bit angry and filing bugs when there are regressions, maybe we
can do away with that crappy crutch.

> If it were up to me, there'd be a full bootloader prompt back too :)

And we'd be using work-arounds to get Macs running under Linux ;)

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Matthias Clasen
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 10:34 -0400, Jon Masters wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 00:02 +0100, Adam Williamson wrote:
> 
> > With an install _not_ of the kind described above, you currently get a 0
> > timeout, which is what's mostly under discussion now: whether we should
> > have a non-zero timeout for all installations, even single-boot.
> 
> Of course it shouldn't be zero. This is what I was saying yesterday. Now
> if Fedora is really targeting end users who are non-technical (can we
> decide this finally, sometime, please?) then this is valid. But if it's
> true that we favor experienced computing users, it should not be zero.

That argument doesn't make any sense. Surely, whether the timeout should
be zero or not does not depend on the experience of the user, but on the
use case at hands. 

Several installation to choose from --> give the user time to make a
choice
Only one OS --> get it running as quickly as possible

I am certainly an experienced user, and I am still not in love with
staring a a grub screen for so many seconds every boot.


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Felix Miata
On 2010/05/18 15:43 (GMT+0100) Matthew Garrett composed:

> I'll point out here that Windows gives no 
> visible prompt to obtain bootup options and the world doesn't seem to 
> have ended

I fix that insanity on first boot.

The last thing anyone needs is an unbootable system continuing to proceed
exactly the same each time, resulting in the same failure every time.
Expecting a different result on additional attempts is a good definition of
foolish, if not annoying. So is not having an obvious and easy escape route.
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Jon Masters
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 15:43 +0100, Matthew Garrett wrote:
> On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:34:22AM -0400, Jon Masters wrote:
> 
> > Of course it shouldn't be zero. This is what I was saying yesterday. Now
> > if Fedora is really targeting end users who are non-technical (can we
> > decide this finally, sometime, please?) then this is valid. But if it's
> > true that we favor experienced computing users, it should not be zero.
> 
> The logic here is unclear.

As a technical user, it's another thing I immediately have to "fix"
post-install, usually by rebooting a couple of times to make sure I get
into grub at just the right moment. But moreso, it's become expected on
Linux systems that one will get some kind of bootloader prompt/timeout. 

If it were up to me, there'd be a full bootloader prompt back too :)

Jon.


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Matthew Garrett
On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:34:22AM -0400, Jon Masters wrote:

> Of course it shouldn't be zero. This is what I was saying yesterday. Now
> if Fedora is really targeting end users who are non-technical (can we
> decide this finally, sometime, please?) then this is valid. But if it's
> true that we favor experienced computing users, it should not be zero.

The logic here is unclear. Technical users are surely the ones most able 
to deal with this situation? I'll point out here that Windows gives no 
visible prompt to obtain bootup options and the world doesn't seem to 
have ended, so if we have machines where it's currently *impossible* to 
get to the grub menu then that sounds like a bug in grub that needs to 
be rectified.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Jon Masters
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 00:02 +0100, Adam Williamson wrote:

> With an install _not_ of the kind described above, you currently get a 0
> timeout, which is what's mostly under discussion now: whether we should
> have a non-zero timeout for all installations, even single-boot.

Of course it shouldn't be zero. This is what I was saying yesterday. Now
if Fedora is really targeting end users who are non-technical (can we
decide this finally, sometime, please?) then this is valid. But if it's
true that we favor experienced computing users, it should not be zero.

Jon.


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Adam Williamson
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 10:31 +0100, Bastien Nocera wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 00:02 +0100, Adam Williamson wrote:
> 
> > (FWIW, I'd prefer a non-zero timeout in all cases, for reasons others
> > have already mentioned).
> 
> And I'd want a zero timeout in most cases because my boot works, and I
> don't want to see more changes in panel resolution.

Those are indeed the trade-offs. I was just registering my opinion
quickly, seeing as how I was writing a post anyway.
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-18 Thread Bastien Nocera
On Tue, 2010-05-18 at 00:02 +0100, Adam Williamson wrote:

> (FWIW, I'd prefer a non-zero timeout in all cases, for reasons others
> have already mentioned).

And I'd want a zero timeout in most cases because my boot works, and I
don't want to see more changes in panel resolution.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-17 Thread Adam Williamson
On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 10:40 -0500, Mike Chambers wrote:
> On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 08:23 -0400, Genes MailLists wrote:
> 
> >What if a user puts in a timeout - after a successful boot will it
> > stay or be reset to 0. It should never change what the user desires ...
> > you may need a fancier smarter set of rules.
> 
> Ok, did a test install this morning on a dual boot (Win 7) system and
> the grub timeout was set to 5, which is as directed for multi boot
> systems or installs using serial.
> 
> Also, I changed the timeout after the install and it stays that way and
> doesn't change back.  The setting is permanently until I change it
> again.

To clarify what the actual current situation is here, everyone's right.
=)

As of F<=12 and F13 RC3, the situation is as Mike describes above, when
installing in a situation that anaconda recognizes as 'dual boot', you
get a default 5 second time out. You also get this with a serial
install.

With an install _not_ of the kind described above, you currently get a 0
timeout, which is what's mostly under discussion now: whether we should
have a non-zero timeout for all installations, even single-boot.

The wrinkle is that with F13 < RC3, you got 0 second timeout even in the
dual boot case. This was simply a bug that we fixed in RC3. It was
always _intended_ that you'd get a non-zero timeout in dual-boot
scenarios, but we just managed to break that during the F13 cycle.
That's why Frank Murphy posted about getting a 0 timeout with Windows
installed.

(FWIW, I'd prefer a non-zero timeout in all cases, for reasons others
have already mentioned).
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-17 Thread Adam Williamson
On Mon, 2010-05-17 at 13:46 -0400, Przemek Klosowski wrote:

> > In that case, why default to keeping around more than 1 kernel or installing
> > memtest86? (We do still install memtest86 by default, right?)
> 
> The usual PC behavior of banging on the keyboard brings the boot menu 
> even if there is no timeout. Don't laugh: banging blindly on the 

Not always. This varies between systems. I've personally encountered a
system where it's almost impossible to hit the grub menu (neither
holding down a key nor random bashing reliably gets you to it, you have
to try and time a press precisely, and you only get it about 1 try in
5-10; not a lot of fun), and several people have reported similar
systems - including some where it simply seems impossible to get to the
boot menu with a 0 timeout - in previous discussions about this.
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-17 Thread Przemek Klosowski
On 05/15/2010 03:04 AM, Conrad Meyer wrote:
> On Friday 14 May 2010 11:05:13 pm Chris Jones wrote:
>> I was under the impression that a timeout is intentional/used only if
>> another operating system is detected upon installation. ie. Windows. If no
>> other operating system is detected, then there's no point having a timeout.
>
> In that case, why default to keeping around more than 1 kernel or installing
> memtest86? (We do still install memtest86 by default, right?)

The usual PC behavior of banging on the keyboard brings the boot menu 
even if there is no timeout. Don't laugh: banging blindly on the 
keyboard is the recommended service procedure per DELL and other 
hardware manufacturers, since the timing of reading boot time keyboard 
input is pretty variable and usually has no visual feedback.
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-17 Thread Rares Aioanei
On Mon, 17 May 2010 12:35:55 -0400
Jon Masters  wrote:

> On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 16:05 +1000, Chris Jones wrote:
> > I was under the impression that a timeout is intentional/used only if
> > another operating system is detected upon installation. ie. Windows.
> > If no other operating system is detected, then there's no point having
> > a timeout.
> 
> I strongly disagree. I think it's a sad day we have reached that we're
> so concerned about pretty booting that we don't keep around even a 1-2
> second delay for the "technical user" we keep saying we're targeting.
> 
> Jon.
> 
I concur.
> 
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-17 Thread Jon Masters
On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 16:05 +1000, Chris Jones wrote:
> I was under the impression that a timeout is intentional/used only if
> another operating system is detected upon installation. ie. Windows.
> If no other operating system is detected, then there's no point having
> a timeout.

I strongly disagree. I think it's a sad day we have reached that we're
so concerned about pretty booting that we don't keep around even a 1-2
second delay for the "technical user" we keep saying we're targeting.

Jon.


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Richard Zidlicky
On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 11:47:47AM -0400, Genes MailLists wrote:
> On 05/15/2010 11:40 AM, Mike Chambers wrote:
> 
> > Also, I changed the timeout after the install and it stays that way and
> > doesn't change back.  The setting is permanently until I change it
> > again.
> > 
> 
>  Yes it is - I think someone was suggesting it be changed ..

the issue was that the timeout was too short for some, it certainly was for
me in the default install.


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Genes MailLists
On 05/15/2010 12:23 PM, Mike Chambers wrote:

> Actually, I was answering your question, in regards to if it's changed,
> will it be changed back.  Was thinking you were asking this as in after
> the install and you changed it, will it be changed back by an upgrade or
> something.
> 
> Sorry for the confusion,
> 

No prob - i was just pointing out his suggestions may have problems of
their own ...
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Mike Chambers
On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 11:47 -0400, Genes MailLists wrote:
> On 05/15/2010 11:40 AM, Mike Chambers wrote:
> 
> > Also, I changed the timeout after the install and it stays that way and
> > doesn't change back.  The setting is permanently until I change it
> > again.
> > 
> 
>  Yes it is - I think someone was suggesting it be changed ..

Actually, I was answering your question, in regards to if it's changed,
will it be changed back.  Was thinking you were asking this as in after
the install and you changed it, will it be changed back by an upgrade or
something.

Sorry for the confusion,

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Genes MailLists
On 05/15/2010 11:40 AM, Mike Chambers wrote:

> Also, I changed the timeout after the install and it stays that way and
> doesn't change back.  The setting is permanently until I change it
> again.
> 

 Yes it is - I think someone was suggesting it be changed ..
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread goineasy9
That's not entirely true.  I have read many posts where hitting escape had no 
effect on stopping boot.  I, myself have one motherboard that functions (or 
doesn't function) in the same way.


-Original Message-
From: Genes MailLists 
To: Development discussions related to Fedora 
Sent: Sat, May 15, 2010 10:06 am
Subject: Re: Increase grub timeout


On 05/15/2010 09:48 AM, Felix Miata wrote:
rior to first boot. I always change it to 12-15, depending on how many
> stanzas are proposed. 3 seconds doesn't give me time to reach for the


  You dont really need to 'react' and make a decision other than to
touch the kbd .. once you've touched the kbd .. you can take as long as
you want choosing the grub entry/editing etc ...
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Mike Chambers
On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 08:23 -0400, Genes MailLists wrote:

>What if a user puts in a timeout - after a successful boot will it
> stay or be reset to 0. It should never change what the user desires ...
> you may need a fancier smarter set of rules.

Ok, did a test install this morning on a dual boot (Win 7) system and
the grub timeout was set to 5, which is as directed for multi boot
systems or installs using serial.

Also, I changed the timeout after the install and it stays that way and
doesn't change back.  The setting is permanently until I change it
again.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Genes MailLists
On 05/15/2010 09:48 AM, Felix Miata wrote:
rior to first boot. I always change it to 12-15, depending on how many
> stanzas are proposed. 3 seconds doesn't give me time to reach for the


  You dont really need to 'react' and make a decision other than to
touch the kbd .. once you've touched the kbd .. you can take as long as
you want choosing the grub entry/editing etc ...
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Felix Miata
openSUSE's Grub has defaulted to 8 seconds as long as openSUSE has existed,
same as SuSE before it as far back as I ever used it. The 8 is in a select
list in the installer's Grub configuration section, so it's easy to change
prior to first boot. I always change it to 12-15, depending on how many
stanzas are proposed. 3 seconds doesn't give me time to reach for the
keyboard, much less both comprehend to what I see and react.

This Grub timeout situation is much like desktop font sizes. If fonts are too
big/timeout is too long, it's much easier to make smaller/set shorter than to
make bigger/set longer if fonts are too big/timeout too short.

IOW, if it cannot be perfect (which it cannot), better too long than too short.
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Frank Murphy
On 15/05/10 07:05, Chris Jones wrote:
> I was under the impression that a timeout is intentional/used only if
> another operating system is detected upon installation. ie. Windows. If
> no other operating system is detected, then there's no point having a
> timeout.
> 

It also has 0 when  Windows is pre-installed.

Frank
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Genes MailLists
On 05/15/2010 05:01 AM, Richard Zidlicky wrote:
> On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 09:58:27AM +0200, Alexander Boström wrote:
> 
>> Long story short: There are situations where a grub menu is vital, like
>> until you've successfully booted a new kernel.
> 
> of course, and I do not think it is so hard to think of a sensible behaviour.
> 
> After each (semi)automatic change to grub/kernel conf as well as for the very 
> first 
> boot there should be a timeout as well as visible menu.
> Once the kernel did boot with default command line etc it would be safe to 
> set 
> the timeout to a small value - after asking the user. 
> 
> More elaborate solution, there could be two config values - quicktimeout and 
> safetimout.
> After kernel and config changes timeout would be changed to safetimout and 
> once 
> the kernel booted safely it could be reset to quicktimeout automatically.
> 
> Richard


   What if a user puts in a timeout - after a successful boot will it
stay or be reset to 0. It should never change what the user desires ...
you may need a fancier smarter set of rules.

Complex rules and grub ..mmm ... somehow I prefer simple and grub ...


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Richard Zidlicky
On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 05:24:26AM -0400, Matt McCutchen wrote:
> On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 11:01 +0200, Richard Zidlicky wrote:

> > More elaborate solution, there could be two config values - quicktimeout 
> > and 
> > safetimout.
> > After kernel and config changes timeout would be changed to safetimout and 
> > once 
> > the kernel booted safely it could be reset to quicktimeout automatically.
> 
> Neat idea.  But if a breaking kernel change somehow occurs without
> triggering the change to the safetimeout, we would not want the user to
> be completely stuck.  I see two ways to address that:

see only few possibilities how it could break:
- hw configuration change
- hw failure
- sysadmin breakage (circumventing fedora tools)

for situations like this a live USB stick is pretty important, grub timeout 
could help in this situation or not depending on many other factors.

> - Make quicktimeout nonzero enough that the user has time to react.

the idea was that both "quicktimeout" and "safetimout" would be configurable,
with reasonable predefined values like eg 1 and 6 seconds.

Everything else is too much black magic for my taste:)

Richard

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Matt McCutchen
On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 11:01 +0200, Richard Zidlicky wrote:
> of course, and I do not think it is so hard to think of a sensible behaviour.
> 
> After each (semi)automatic change to grub/kernel conf as well as for the very 
> first 
> boot there should be a timeout as well as visible menu.
> Once the kernel did boot with default command line etc it would be safe to 
> set 
> the timeout to a small value - after asking the user. 
> 
> More elaborate solution, there could be two config values - quicktimeout and 
> safetimout.
> After kernel and config changes timeout would be changed to safetimout and 
> once 
> the kernel booted safely it could be reset to quicktimeout automatically.

Neat idea.  But if a breaking kernel change somehow occurs without
triggering the change to the safetimeout, we would not want the user to
be completely stuck.  I see two ways to address that:

- Make quicktimeout nonzero enough that the user has time to react.

- When grub attempts booting with quicktimeout, have it change to
safetimeout.  Then have an initscript that changes back to quicktimeout
once booting has succeeded.  Grub already has a "default boot entry"
field in the stage2 image that can be written by boot commands for
exactly this purpose; see the info docs.  The same could be done for the
timeout.  (This would appear to be a common trick: my Dell Latitude
D620's BIOS does the same thing with the power-on self test.)

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Gilboa Davara
On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 12:19 +0300, Gilboa Davara wrote:
> On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 11:01 +0200, Richard Zidlicky wrote:
> > On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 09:58:27AM +0200, Alexander Boström wrote:
> > 
> > > Long story short: There are situations where a grub menu is vital, like
> > > until you've successfully booted a new kernel.
> > 
> > of course, and I do not think it is so hard to think of a sensible 
> > behaviour.
> > 
> > After each (semi)automatic change to grub/kernel conf as well as for the 
> > very first 
> > boot there should be a timeout as well as visible menu.
> > Once the kernel did boot with default command line etc it would be safe to 
> > set 
> > the timeout to a small value - after asking the user. 
> > 
> > More elaborate solution, there could be two config values - quicktimeout 
> > and 
> > safetimout.
> > After kernel and config changes timeout would be changed to safetimout and 
> > once 
> > the kernel booted safely it could be reset to quicktimeout automatically.
> > 
> > Richard
> 
> Another options will be to test a successful boot flag. (E.g. a touch
> file in /boot/).
> If the file doesn't exists (Post installation, new kernel, failed
> boot/shutdown) grub should switch to a predefined timeout, giving the
> user time to react.
> 
> The main issue here, is grub changes. Such a feature will require
> changes to grub (code), kernel (post install script) and init functions.
> 
> While the last two are less problematic (bash scripts), given the fact
> that development of grub is slowly shifting to grub2, I doubt that the
> Fedora grub maintainers will be willing to spend time on such a feature
> when grub is be phased out. (Or is it?)
> 
> - Gilboa
> 

Actually, I do remember grub having a fallback feature.
It should solve the failed kernel upgrade problem.
However, it will not solve the failed first boot problem.

- Gilboa


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Gilboa Davara
On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 11:01 +0200, Richard Zidlicky wrote:
> On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 09:58:27AM +0200, Alexander Boström wrote:
> 
> > Long story short: There are situations where a grub menu is vital, like
> > until you've successfully booted a new kernel.
> 
> of course, and I do not think it is so hard to think of a sensible behaviour.
> 
> After each (semi)automatic change to grub/kernel conf as well as for the very 
> first 
> boot there should be a timeout as well as visible menu.
> Once the kernel did boot with default command line etc it would be safe to 
> set 
> the timeout to a small value - after asking the user. 
> 
> More elaborate solution, there could be two config values - quicktimeout and 
> safetimout.
> After kernel and config changes timeout would be changed to safetimout and 
> once 
> the kernel booted safely it could be reset to quicktimeout automatically.
> 
> Richard

Another options will be to test a successful boot flag. (E.g. a touch
file in /boot/).
If the file doesn't exists (Post installation, new kernel, failed
boot/shutdown) grub should switch to a predefined timeout, giving the
user time to react.

The main issue here, is grub changes. Such a feature will require
changes to grub (code), kernel (post install script) and init functions.

While the last two are less problematic (bash scripts), given the fact
that development of grub is slowly shifting to grub2, I doubt that the
Fedora grub maintainers will be willing to spend time on such a feature
when grub is be phased out. (Or is it?)

- Gilboa


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Richard Zidlicky
On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 09:58:27AM +0200, Alexander Boström wrote:

> Long story short: There are situations where a grub menu is vital, like
> until you've successfully booted a new kernel.

of course, and I do not think it is so hard to think of a sensible behaviour.

After each (semi)automatic change to grub/kernel conf as well as for the very 
first 
boot there should be a timeout as well as visible menu.
Once the kernel did boot with default command line etc it would be safe to set 
the timeout to a small value - after asking the user. 

More elaborate solution, there could be two config values - quicktimeout and 
safetimout.
After kernel and config changes timeout would be changed to safetimout and once 
the kernel booted safely it could be reset to quicktimeout automatically.

Richard
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Alexander Boström
My home server was running Fedora 10 and I tried to preupgrade it to
F12, however the F12 kernel wouldn't work at all on this machine (it
oopsed before even mounting the root) and no matter how frantically I
pressed the arrow keys during boot I could never get into the GRUB menu
and stop it from booting into F12 anaconda. Also, it had no CD drive and
LiveUSB boot failed too. Luckily I had another harddrive laying around
which had grub on it, so I could install and boot from that instead and
return to F10. (The real fix turned out to be to upgrade the BIOS.)

Long story short: There are situations where a grub menu is vital, like
until you've successfully booted a new kernel.

/Alexander


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread goineasy9
There are many instances in the forums, where, adding a cheat code to the 
kernel line in grub will solve a problem, but, if one doesn't have access to 
grub at boot-up, the solution is made more difficult.  Even the act of booting 
to init 3 to make a diagnosis by looking at the logs requires a rescue disk 
when there is no access to the grub screen.  Installations aren't always 
seamless, a timeout of 1 to 3 seconds makes the recovery easier.


-Original Message-
From: Chris Jones 
To: Development discussions related to Fedora 
Sent: Sat, May 15, 2010 2:05 am
Subject: Re: Increase grub timeout


I was under the impression that a timeout is intentional/used only if another 
operating system is detected upon installation. ie. Windows. If no other 
operating system is detected, then there's no point having a timeout.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-15 Thread Conrad Meyer
On Friday 14 May 2010 11:05:13 pm Chris Jones wrote:
> I was under the impression that a timeout is intentional/used only if
> another operating system is detected upon installation. ie. Windows. If no
> other operating system is detected, then there's no point having a timeout.

In that case, why default to keeping around more than 1 kernel or installing 
memtest86? (We do still install memtest86 by default, right?)

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-14 Thread Chris Jones
I was under the impression that a timeout is intentional/used only if
another operating system is detected upon installation. ie. Windows. If no
other operating system is detected, then there's no point having a timeout.

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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-14 Thread Mike Chambers
On Sat, 2010-05-15 at 10:33 +1000, Chris Jones wrote:
> So what's the actual bug? I've read through the tracker list and I
> still can;t for the life of me detect an actual bug, but rather an
> annoyance for a select few. However, I do agree that there should be a
> delay increase for GRUB timeout. More so like that of Debian, Ubuntu
> etc.

Was originally filed when discovered there was no timeout during a boot
after a test install, before was told it was done on purpose.  So
therefore thought it was a bug.  Now it's an argument as to whether
there should be a timeout or not.


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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-14 Thread Chris Jones
So what's the actual bug? I've read through the tracker list and I still
can;t for the life of me detect an actual bug, but rather an annoyance for a
select few. However, I do agree that there should be a delay increase for
GRUB timeout. More so like that of Debian, Ubuntu etc.


-- 
Chris Jones
Photographic Imaging Professional and Graphic Designer
ABN: 98 317 740 240

Photo Resolutions - Photo Printing, Editing and Restorations
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Re: Increase grub timeout

2010-05-14 Thread Mike Chambers
On Fri, 2010-05-14 at 15:31 -0400, goinea...@aol.com wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm reaching my one year anniversary using fedora, so I guess it's
> time to stop lurking and start writing, so here goes.
> 
> 
> Back in November I added my two cents to the bugzilla report titled
> "Increase grub timeout".  Today I got a notification the it has been
> set as WontFix.  The reason by Chris Lumen in his last paragraph
> states:
> 
> 
> I'm closing as WONTFIX only on that basis. Don't take it as an offence
> or that
> we'll never change this behavior. I'm just not willing to fix it until
> there's
> distribution buy-in. Thanks. 

The bug # he's discussing is below..

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=541315

> OK, no offense taken, and, I understand that for marketing, saving a few 
> seconds off of boot-up time is an immense selling point, especially when all 
> the distros stand up next to one another and try to write their boot up times 
> into the snow.
> Reading the forums and the mailing lists, I don't think I've come across one 
> post that is positive for keeping the timeout at zero, yet, there is a wall 
> to be hurdled called "distribution buy-in".
> After close to a year using fedora, I know that the first thing I have to do 
> is change the timeout to a 3 and comment out hiddenmenu.  But as a new user, 
> it took a while for me to figure out what was going on.  I feel for the new 
> user who has a video card that is not immediately recognized and winds up 
> with a black screen after the boot.  I have had this happen to me personally 
> doing an install, and, there have been some installs where hitting esc would 
> not stop the boot.  I've had to ssh into one machine to change the timeout, 
> just so I could add "vesa" to the kernel line during boot.
> As someone who spends his time helping Linux users on forums, it would really 
> help a lot to remove this obstacle.  It doesn't make sense to lock a new user 
> out of the grub screen.

Not sure I know what the results are of whom discussed this or who
agreed or disagreed as to keep it same or not.  But I am the one who
opened the bug in the first place.


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