Bug#701656: initramfs rescue shell doesn't recognize USB keyboard
On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 04:30:29PM -0600, Alexander Perlis wrote:
> On 02/25/2013 02:39 PM, Ben Hutchings wrote:
> >There isn't just one USB keyboard driver; there are many.
>
> I see. Since my keyboard works in BIOS and GRUB, I suppose this
> means the driver is present in those places, or they are using some
> legacy user input approach that wouldn't be appropriate for the
> rescue shell?
The BIOS keyboard support code cannot be used by protected-mode
operating systems such as Linux and Windows.
> >Now maybe we should include the right driver for whatever you had
> >plugged in during installation.
>
> That seems reasonable.
>
> >But what if you don't have a
> >keyboard plugged in? What if you plug a different model of keyboard
> >in, that needs a specialised driver?
>
> A valid concern, but in analogy to plugging in a different model
> keyboard, one could install say an add-on video card to use in place
> of built-in video. Either way, that's changing the hardware, so a
> targeted build may legitimately fail. But my keyboard was present at
> time of install, so one would expect it to work.
Yes, I understand this. Unfortunately this is still going to
randomly go wrong if you upgrade the kernel (or any other package that
contributes to the initramfs) without a keyboard plugged in. (I don't
know what kind of computer you are installing on, but this would be
entirely normal for a server.)
> >This is why 'generic' is usually the right answer.
>
> Good to know. That was the default, but the associated debconf
> explanatory text warned that a generic build might be too large to
> boot, which tempted the experiment with changing the value.
>
> If keyboard support can't be improved in time for the Debian 7.0
> release, could at least the debconf explanatory text include "(Note:
> initramfs includes a rescue shell for boot failures. The targeted
> build doesn't include any USB keyboard drivers.)" ?
I agree the question should be reworded. The size is only
likely to be a problem on machines with very limited storage
or using some old boot loaders.
Perhaps we should also rename 'targetted' to
'what-could-possibly-go-wrong'...
Ben.
--
Ben Hutchings
We get into the habit of living before acquiring the habit of thinking.
- Albert Camus
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