Re: [Tails-dev] next big features: status update

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Autor: sajolida
Data:  
A: The Tails public development discussion list
Assumpte: Re: [Tails-dev] next big features: status update

Here is my report from a new testing session with:

- tails-greeter            0.4
- tails-persistence-setup    0.8.3-1
- liveusb-creator        3.11.4-9


Tails greeter
=============

1. I'm glad to see that the "Other…" option is now available for the
keymap as well. But even if I choose a custom keyboard from there it's
not set in the session.

Tails USB installer
===================

Nice wrapper!

Persistence wizard
==================

This time the persistence setup worked for me. And it looks great!

Bootstrap and Configure
-----------------------

2. There are still two minor display problems with the configuration
window, see scrolling.png in attachment:
- the horizontal scrolling bar that should be removed
- the window height should be maximized

3. I think that the items checked default (Personal Data and Dotfiles)
should appear first in the list.

4. The custom option "Source:" "Destination:" would need some
explanation. Maybe the UI could have a title "Add a custom storage"
before that and then some more explanation:
- What does it do? (mount a folder of the persistent storage on top of a
folder of the filesystem?)
- What format shall I use for the path?
- Maybe give a example that would be worth mentioned.
- If we think this feature is for expert users only we could hide it
behind an expandable section.

5. Dotfiles. How do I access the dotfiles directory? Does it work only
for files or for directories as well?

6. Right after bootstrapping a persistent storage if I try to rerun the
configuration it fails:
- the GUI says "Error: Device /org/freedesktop/UDisk/devices/sdb already
has a persistent volume." which is true but shouldn't prevent me from
changing its configuration.
- the CLI (tails-persistence-setup --step configure) says "Error:
Persistence is not enabled."

7. To get out of this situation I tried to delete the persistent storage
I just created, but the deletion step hangs when doing this sequence:
- bootstrap & configure
- delete → hangs
- delete again → ok

With the GUI the spinner spins (forever?), and with the CLI I get:

Working on device /org/freedesktop/UDisks/devices/sdb
Running step delete
Entering main Gtk2 loop.
Deleting partition /org/freedesktop/UDisks/devices/sdb2
*** unhandled exception in callback:
*** org.freedesktop.UDisks.Error.Failed: Error locking luks device:
timeout (10s) waiting for cleartext device to be removed
*** ignoring at /usr/share/perl5/Tails/Persistence/Setup.pm line 557.
GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: g_object_new: assertion `G_TYPE_IS_OBJECT
(object_type)' failed at /usr/share/perl5/Tails/Persistence/Setup.pm
line 557.
CRITICAL **: atk_object_initialize: assertion `ATK_IS_OBJECT
(accessible)' failed at /usr/share/perl5/Tails/Persistence/Setup.pm line
557.

8. In the persistent storage utility the device name is called
/org/freedesktop/UDisk/devices/sdb. Since we sometimes try to educate
our users, in the documentation, to identify a device name as something
that looks like /dev/sda maybe, I think it would be better (and shorter)
to keep the same device name format in the GUI as well.

9. Can I use the persistence to save my language and keyboard
preferences? If so, how?

10. It seems like you need to reboot after configuring (reconfiguring as
well?) the persistent storage. That should be made explicit.

For example in the window that says "You may close this application.",
we could add "You must restart Tails for the changes to take effect.".

Rebooting
---------

Now when I reboot I'm proposed to use persistence in TailsGreeter!

11. The configuration GUI now shows a custom entry for /persistent, see
persistent.png in attachment.

12. It would be nice to have a shortcut to the /persistent folder in
Places → Persistent.

13. The volume TailsData shows up in the Places menu but when clicking
on it I get "Unable to mount TailsData /dev/dm-0 is mounted". I guess
that's no big surprise but then it should either be removed from the
Places menu or open the folder where it is mounted
(/live/persistent/sdb2_unlocked) if we think that makes sense.

--
sajolida