sajolida wrote (10 Sep 2015 12:41:10 GMT) :
>>> For failsafe, we could have “Start Tails in failsafe mode” probably.
>>> But I really wonder if that thing is any useful. I have *never* used it
>>> since I'm using Tails, and it's been a while.
> We advertise it for hardware compatibility issues, see [1].
> [1]: https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/startup_options#boot_menu
> But I admit that I never used it myself :)
I've historically found this option useful, when doing user support,
to be able to instruct a user to boot with KMS disabled (e.g.
when X/GDM fails to start, which is not that uncommon in my
experience) this way: it's a bit easier than "type TAB, then
nomodeset, then Enter". This specific use case will vanish "soon"
(since at least one of the major X drivers in Stretch won't support
userspace modesetting anymore, IIRC) though.
I'd be curious to hear from frontdesk people (Cc'd) how often they see
"my computer will only boot Tails in failsafe mode" these days.
A few years ago it occurred pretty often, and it's a good starting
point for debugging: it allows users to easily find and provide
a "good" data point, for bisecting what specific option added by
failsafe mode is needed to make Tails start on their hardware.
I bet that some documentation could replace the failsafe option.
It'll make life a bit easier for users on the lucky path, and life
a bit harder for users on the unlucky path. Not sure if it's
a good idea.
