[SeaBIOS] [PATCH] boot: add serial-friendly alternatives for invoking the boot menu

[Kevin O'Connor]

On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 05:42:18PM +0100, Paolo Bonzini wrote:
> On 11/03/2015 17:09, Kevin O'Connor wrote:
> >> But more important, which keys are and are not available depends on the
> >> client, not on the server.  So for VNC all keys work but on at least a
> >> viewer F8 is inconvenient because it brings up a menu (thankfully one
> >> item in the menu is "Send F8"); for the serial console on a Unix machine
> >> F12 is okay but F11 might bring the terminal full screen; on older Mac
> >> OS X machine F9-F12 were intercepted by the OS, but on newer OS X
> >> releases function keys are basically gone for good.  A configuration
> >> that always works might be broken by the addition of a new client.
> > 
> > The above makes sense.  The F12 key comes from Bochs bios.  Given the
> > difficulties in using F-keys (on QEMU as well as on real machines) I
> > wonder if we should just change the SeaBIOS default to ESC?
> > 
> > I don't like changing the default message to "Press ESC+@ or F12 for
> > boot menu." as I think the description becomes confusing when multiple
> > options are given.  So, ESC+@ could be a hidden feature, but
> > admittedly that's not a great option.  Otherwise the technical parts
> > of the patch looks okay to me.
> 
> I have no problem with changing the key; the problem I have with ESC is
> that I'm going to add F12 for network boot, and then I would like ESC+@
> to trigger network boot.  ESC for the boot menu would clash.  With my
> full patches, the default message would be like this:

Can you explain that "network boot" feature further?

Couldn't the user hit ESC to bring up the boot menu, and then select
the network option from the menu?

>    Press ESC+6 or F6 for boot menu.
>    Press ESC+@ or F12 for network boot.
> 
> Hmm... what about just adding quotes like this:
> 
>    Press "ESC+6" or "F6" for boot menu.
>    Press "ESC+@" or "F12" for network boot.
> 
> or like this:
> 
>    Press <F6>, or <ESC><6>, for boot menu.
>    Press <F12>, or <ESC><@>, for network boot.

On a real machine, these messages fly by pretty quick (the video
doesn't necessarily come up instantly).  I think the message should be
as succinct as possible - hit this key to stop the default boot -
otherwise the default boot is going to happen.  I don't think we
should make that initial prompt any more complex.  Once the user stops
the default boot (by hitting ESC, F12, whatever) then a more detailed
explanation and more detailed options can be provided.

So, my concern is not with the placement of the quotes or order of the
text, but that in the second or so that it is on the screen the
directions should be succinct.

Everyone seems to want something slightly different for the boot
splash, which is why there are so many fw_cfg/cbfs entries that allow
customization of it.  I'm leery of adding more complexity to it,
because I fear that's going to lead to even more complexity as users
desire further customization.

-Kevin