[Tails-dev] 2.0 milestone += supporting USB devices exposed …

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Author: intrigeri
Date:  
To: tails-dev
Subject: [Tails-dev] 2.0 milestone += supporting USB devices exposed as non-removable?
Hi,

Tails refuses to boot from devices that expose themselves as
non-removable. Historically, all USB sticks said they were removable,
even if this is not correct according to the specification (removable
is rather for devices that can be fed with removable medium, such as
a floppy drive). Recently, quite a lot of new USB sticks (especially
Sandisk) expose themselves as non-removable. This is causing headaches
to a number of users, and a non-negligible workload for frontdesk.

I propose we add fixing this to the Tails 2.0 milestone, for the same
reason we added UEFI there: it's a must for Tails to stay relevant.
Unless there are objections within a week, I'll do this change.

A draft preliminary plan could be:

1. Have Tails Installer write down the UUID in boot loader config on
initial install
2. Have Tails Installer preserve the UUID in boot loader config on
upgrade
3. Have Tails Updater (IUK) preserve the UUID in boot loader config on
upgrade
4. Require booting from the UUID that is in boot loader config, that
is add such an option to live-boot
5. Stop requiring the removable flag at boot time
6. Only allow using persistent volume from the boot medium, that is
add such an option to live-persist and/or live-boot

Better ideas are welcome.

I've filed this as ticket #6397.

Cheers,
--
intrigeri
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