Hi,
I've got a prototype of UEFI support with syslinux 6.03~pre1 in the
feature/uefi branch, that boots fine from USB on a MacBook Pro
(12-inch, mid 2012) and a ThinkPenguin Royal in UEFI mode.
Time to get you involved!
Tests needed
============
I'd like to see this stuff tested on a wider range of hardware.
Ideally, within a week, but well, later is good too.
I am mainly interested in:
* regressions, especially on legacy BIOS hardware (we are jumping
3.5 years in the future in terms of syslinux development here)
* improvements (or lack thereof) on UEFI hardware
More specifically, here are the tests I am interested in:
* on UEFI-capable hardware, from USB or SD installed with the Tails
Installer (in UEFI mode)
* on UEFI-capable hardware, from DVD (in legacy BIOS mode)
* on legacy BIOS hardware, from USB or SD installed with the Tails
Installer
* on legacy BIOS hardware, from USB or SD installed with the good
old isohybrid + cat method
* on legacy BIOS hardware, from DVD
How to test
===========
0. Do *not* try to be clever, do *not* skip any step: in particular,
don't try to install the USB stick with an older Tails installer,
nor to upgrade one.
1. Get the latest nightly built ISO from
http://nightly.tails.boum.org/build_Tails_ISO_feature-uefi/
2. Boot this ISO (either from DVD, or isohybrid + cat, or the manual
Mac installation method documented on our website; if testing on
a Mac, prefer that one or a DVD).
3. Take notes of how this boot went for your report.
4. Install this ISO onto a USB stick or SD card, using "Clone &
Install".
5. If testing on a Mac, install rEFInd. Else, skip this step.
6. Boot the resulting USB stick or SD card.
7. Take notes of how this boot went for your report.
8. Read the "known issues" section below.
9. Report success and failure => just read on.
Reporting success and failure
=============================
I'm interested both in success and failure reports. When reporting
results, please include the following information:
* the commit ID the ISO was built from (the ISO filename is enough)
* the brand and model of the test system
* the type, brand and model of the boot device
* how exactly the boot device was prepared
* how exactly you're trying to boot it
* what exactly happens with the test ISO
* what exactly happens with Tails 0.22 installed the exact same way,
on the exact same hardware
Known issues
============
* On the MacBook Pro I have here, I have to remove the `menu
background splash.png` line from `EFI/BOOT/stdmenu.cfg`, otherwise
it won't load the syslinux menu, and won't boot at all.
I'm interested to learn if other hardware requires such
workaround, so I can evaluate if it's worth working on it now.
* See "Non-goals" on the blueprint:
https://tails.boum.org/blueprint/UEFI/#index2h2
What happens next?
==================
If this works smoothly enough, then I'll settle on syslinux to start
with (disregarding SecureBoot for now), merge this all in
experimental, clean up the implementation a bit, issue a broader call
for testing, and try to get it into 0.23 (surely some documentation
will need to be adapted along the way).
Else, I'll organize another round of tests with GRUB.
Cheers,
--
intrigeri
| GnuPG key @ https://gaffer.ptitcanardnoir.org/intrigeri/intrigeri.asc
| OTR fingerprint @ https://gaffer.ptitcanardnoir.org/intrigeri/otr.asc
