torios team mailing list archive

[Nio Wiklund <nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi again Israel,

[replying inline]

Best regards
Nio

Den 2015-10-11 kl. 00:07, skrev Israel:
> Hi Nio,
> (inlines)
> On 10/10/2015 11:02 AM, Nio Wiklund wrote:
>> Den 2015-10-08 kl. 14:59, skrev Israel:
>>> Hey everyone,
>>> please test the new ISO, and zsync to get it!
>>>
>> Hi Israel,
>>
>> I'm testing the current ToriOS daily ISO.
>>
>> *Live*
>>
>> 1. ToriOS manual desktop icon:
>>
>> 'Incompatible Add-ons'
>>
>> GNOMErunnier/GTK Revived (Freedesktop) 0.3.4 (is not compatible)
>>
>> Seamonkey finds/wants 0.3.6
> Yeah seamonkey was updated.  this is already fixed in the torios-desktop
> package.
>> 2. OBI with zenity
>>
>> You have spent a lot of time to convert the dialog menus to zenity menus :-)
>>
>> Of course it is an improvement, but there are a few items to discuss,
>> some of them very important.
>>
>> a. I think it is not really worthwhile to keep the second desktop icon
>> and the option 'Install to disk FULL...'.
> Yeah, PCManFM doesn't show the whole item.  No fullscreen option?

If the font size is the same or similar, I don't think it makes a real
difference to add a fullscreen option (but it is a minor issue).

>> b. Some menus that are made for fixed line breaks are too narrow, so
>> they look ugly, and some menus need monospace font (like courier or
>> ubuntu mono) to look good.
>>
>> - the 'Tips' menu should be wider (use --width= or remove the fixed line
>> breaks)
> what width do you want?
> this is the current form
> --width=450 --height=470

--width=540 works better (at least for me).

>> - the 'Help to partition' screen (use --width= or remove the fixed line
>> breaks)
> what width do you want?
> this is the current one:
> --width=470 --height=550

It would be rather wide, so maybe better to remove the fixed line breaks.

(I don't recognize the code, it will take time to where and how to
suggest improvements.)

>> - the 'Help to select device' menu should use monospace font, which
>> works in --text-info windows if you add the --html option and some html
>> or pango markup for that purpose. (You can see how I did it in the
>> corresponding menu in mkusb.)
> but this might break the dialog version by adding html info to the text
> hmm.. I suppose I could try something.

I see the problem. Are you sure that you need to keep the dialog
version? It makes the code much harder to maintain?

I suggest that you release the dialog only version, and wait with the
zenity version of the OBI-installer until ToriOS 1.1.

>> - I think the work flow is inconvenient via 'Partition drives and
>> install alongside current OS': You force people to use gparted. What if
>> they want to reuse partitions like I often do? You should allow them to
>> select partitions manually (like what it used to be in the dialog version).
> This has been like that for many releases.  Why bring it up only now?

No, as far as I recall, things worked in a way I recognized in recent
dialog versions of the OBI-installer (the version that you supplied in
recent daily iso files of ToriOS).

Just to make it clear, I was happy with that dialog version of
'Partition drives and install alongside current OS' :-)

> you can 'resuse' partitions by renaming them obi-root obi-swap this is
> something you designed into OBI, maybe I don't understand your criticism?

It is hidden now, at least for me. I would have to edit files with a
separate tool, if I don't use gparted. And there is no confirmation in a
zenity window. It feels like it is very buggy.

But maybe I'm wrong: people who do not expect it to be like before might
be happy with the current work flow and lack of extra checkpoints.

>> - Furthermore, there I see no feedback, that the correct partitions are
>> actually selected for the root partition and swap partition.
> There wasn't feedback before.  But you cannot proceed without using
> obi-root as a label now... it will check and loop

Yes, there was feedback before. Later (maybe tomorrow) I can try to find
an older but still recent version and make a screendump.

>> At what I think is the final warning, there is no information about the
>> target directories, only 'Are you sure you want to proceed?'. And it is
>> too narrow (the whole header is not shown). Use --width=
> what width do you want?
> this is the current one:
> --width=470 --height=275

Make it wide enough to show the whole header.

> Ok, but dialog does not show this either.  maybe something in terminal
> info was the 'final warning'  I wondered this myself...
> 
>> - The menu 'Select partition using this key: root' is too narrow (hides
>> the important column MOUNTPOINT). Use --width=
> what width do you want?
> --width=640 --height=560
> You made that one that size, though.

I'll check it too. Maybe it was borked longer ago.

>>
>> *Installing*
>>
>> - Furthermore, it seems not working (at least there is only feedback
>> during a few seconds about the target partitions). This cannot be
>> released. I think the dialog menu is much safer to use.
> what seems to not be working?
>> - The 'Overview' window is too narrow and is almost impossible to read.
> Is this in select-part1?  Ho wide should it be? i.e. 640
>> - Finally I tried with a target pendrive, that could be damaged. It did
>> not work at the advanced OBI level to install into partitions made and
>> marked with gparted. The computer boots into the previous system.
>>
>> The target drive has a GPT, and I have installed ToriOS at the advanced
>> OBI level to a drive with GPT before, but it does not work now. The
>> system seems installed into the correct target partition, and the swap
>> partition seems correct, but the bootloader was not installed correctly
>> (probably not at all), the old bootloader survived.
> hmm... same bootloader problems.  this is the real bug, how can OBI
> install grub correctly?

I think this is another bootloader problem. Because in previous versions
it could always boot the currently installed system. But it needed
update-grub to find the other systems.

Now the previous system boots (which might be Kubuntu, Debian, Fedora,
Windows). And it is ignorant of ToriOS. I guess that system (if linux)
would be able to run 'sudo update-grub' and find ToriOS. But Windows
wouldn't, and I think this is a really big problem.

Again, I need time to test how it works in another computer. But it does
not work in my main testing computer (my Toshiba with Intel i5, that
works in BIOS as well as in UEFI mode).

>> - I also tried to install at the basic OBI level (and overwrite the
>> target drive). In this case an appropriate final warning was displayed.
>> There is no progress indication, only the pulsating display while the
>> tarball is extracted. There is a complaint during a few seconds (no
>> chance to write it down). Anyway, this works :-) After reboot there is
>> an installed ToriOS system.
> What indicator do you want?
> Should there be a terminal behind it?  You can test it that way to see
> if you like it better

It need not be a terminal behind. But I suggest that the window should
state that it is the final warning or final checkpoint, and it should
state clearly what is to be installed, and where (which partitions on
which drive) it is to be installed.

>> *Final words*
>>
>> Sorry that I am so negative,
> no problem :)
>>  but I think we should release ToriOS with
>> the dialog menus for the OBI. After the release we have time to tweak
>> these new zenity menus until they feel safe and look good and can
>> install a dual boot or multi boot system. I cannot do it in a short
>> time, and we need several people testing it to detect bugs.
> They are still there.  I just added the zenity menus to it.
> try the:
> Install to Disk FULLSCREEN (or delete ~/usezenity)

I can't test it now. I hope to be able to test it tomorrow (and maybe
more testing later in the week).

>> There is a lot of work (programming and testing) until I would feel
>> ready to release an official version with zenity menus for the
>> OBI-installer in ToriOS.
>>
>> Best regards
>> Nio
> 
> I'll get to the next email...
>