Re: [orca-list] EFI3M more friendly for the blind and visually impaired

[Didier Spaier <didier slint fr>]

Hello Andy,

Thanks for your feedback. I will answer one by one your remarks below,
quoting your post to Janina. I have since made more testing in a Fedora
28 Workstation installed in a virtual machine.

I have uploaded the files that I mention in this repository:
http://slint.fr/testing/fedora/

> I have an HP and it messed up my EFI partition.
Actually EFIM only writes these files in an EFI partition:
/EFI/EFI3M/BOOTx64.EFI
/EFI/EFI3M/EFI3Mgrub.md5
/EFI/EFI3M/EFI3M.md5
/EFI/EFI3M/grub.cfg

Having theses files in a separate partition insure that there be no
interference at all with Fedora files and is the layout recommended by
the UEFI specification, so I don't get in what respect this messes up
the EFI partition.

> After I rebuilt it, ...
Running update2-grub and the grub2-install, right?

> all the script did was put another boot entry into the HP boot manager
> called 3M EFI boot loader.
The exact name of the boot entry is "EFI Boot menu" but this is not
important.  Writing an entry in the machine's firmware is optional, as
I wrote answering a post from Janina, but maybe it's not clearly stated
enough in the EFI3M's UI?

> Going into this menu reveals 38 cryptically named menu choices related
> to Fedora and hardware devices. Very confusing at best. Editing the
> menu resulted in the same 38 cryptically named choices related to
> Fedora. Unfortunately, I have no clue what the names of these menu
> items should be.
Something here is specific to Fedora: as you can check in efi_files it
installed no less that 19 files whose names end in .efi, and all are
of the kind EFI application (file <filename> tells that) half targeting
64_bit systems, half 32-bit systems. I assume that most of these files
are intended to be used by Fedora for specific purposes. Actually the
only one that is actually a boot manager is:
/EFI/fedora/grubx64.efi
There is also /EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI which is supposed to be a fallback,
but that fails in my VM as it chain loads grubx64.efi in the same
directory, which is not there. Maybe a Fedora bug?

Unfortunately, so far I found no way to discriminate with certainty the
OS loaders or boot managers from the EFI utilities, that's why all are
included in the boot menu built by EFI3M. I have provided a mean from
the Customize option of the EFI3M menu to hide or rename entries, but I
understand that this is tedious when there are so many, as with Fedora.

Incidentally, I assume that you have two Fedora systems installed as you
have 38 menu choices.

> In either case, I am left with an inaccessible boot menu, and still
> need to count the down arrow presses.
In this specific case yes, sorry, unless you customize the boot menu a
lot before rebooting.

> Since I know my boot menu well, a silent boot loader isn't a problem,
> especially if I am in meetings, and headphones are a distraction.
Yes, especially considering that you just need a boot entry for two
systems of the same brand. This is not really a targeted use case for
EFI3M, so I am grateful that you tested it despite this. 

As an aside, following my tests I have made changes to EFI3M and
updated it on GitHub.

If you cloned the repository you can get the updated version just typing
from your local repository:
git pull
Then check the changes with:
git log

Else just download again the script with this command:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DidierSpaier/EFI3M/master/EFI3M

Off topic: the French team just won the soccer World Cup ;)

Best regards,

Didier

> On 07/14/2018 05:58 AM, Janina Sajka via orca-list wrote:
> > Hello, Didier!
> >
> > Very impressive script!
> >
> > Unsurprisingly, on my main Desktop machine I get:
> >
> > EFI booting is not enabled, game over.
> >
> >
> > That leaves me only with an Apple Airbook where I'm hesitent to
> > overwrite anything Apple specific. It would be nice to know one could do
> > that, though. So, I'm thinking of a way to test undestructively.
> > Perhaps, if the script runs properly on OS X, writing to USB would be
> > the test?
> >
> > Just thinking aloud ...
> >
> > Janina
> >
> > On 7/13/18, Didier Spaier <didier slint fr> wrote:
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I just uploaded an new version of EFI3M on GitHub:
> > > https://github.com/DidierSpaier/EFI3M
> > >
> > > You can get it typing:
> > > wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DidierSpaier/EFI3M/master/EFI3M
> > >
> > > This will download the shell script EFI3M that should be run as root.
> > >
> > > Enhancements:
> > > I have checked that script can be used with speech using orca.
> > >
> > > This is also true on the console using espeakup, only moving a boot
> > > entry up or down while reordering the boot entries is not spoken, I
> > > don't know why.
> > >
> > > Reordering the boot entries is now simpler: just select a boot entry
> > > typing its number, then move it with the up or down arrow key. the
> > > corresponding line will be distinguished from the others by a * as first
> > > character.
> > >
> > > I will just paste below the second page of the requirements and features
> > > as displayed by the script itself as it details the sound features:
> > >
> > > <quoted page below>
> > > Requirements:
> > > GRUB version at least 2.02 should be installed, as well as usual
> > > utilities found in pretty much any Linux distribution.
> > >
> > > Sound aid for the visually impaired:
> > > After booting, navigate in the menu with the up and down arrow keys.
> > > If brltty, espeakup or orca is active when EFI3M is run:
> > > 1) A Beep is emitted as soon as the menu is displayed.
> > > 2) When pressing Enter on the menu entry n (numbered from the top of
> > >     the menu), a tune of n sounds is played. The user can then confirm
> > >     this choice pressing Enter (the same tune is then played again) or go
> > >     back to the top of the menu pressing the Esc key.
> > > 3) The same apply to the the last entries, Halt and Reboot. A descending
> > >     arpeggio is played for Halt, a descending followed by an ascending
> > >     arpeggio for Reboot. Again, confirm with Enter or cancel with Esc.
> > >
> > > The sound can also be set afterwards: type 4 in the main menu of EFI3M,
> > > then M for Mute or S for Sound, and validate the setting typing V.
> > >
> > > To apply the modification to an USB stick you will need to write again
> > > the menu on it, typing 3 in the main menu.
> > > <quoted page ended above>
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > >
> > > Didier
> > > _______________________________________________
> > _______________________________________________
> > orca-list mailing list
> > orca-list gnome org
> > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> > Orca wiki: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Orca
> > Orca documentation: https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/
> > GNOME Universal Access guide: https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/a11y.html
> > Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> orca-list mailing list
> orca-list gnome org
> https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> Orca wiki: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Orca
> Orca documentation: https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/
> GNOME Universal Access guide: https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/a11y.html
> Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org
>       

> I have an HP and it messed up my EFI partition. After I rebuilt it, all the script did was put another boot 
> entry into the HP boot manager called 3M EFI boot loader. Going into this menu reveals 38 cryptically named 
> menu choices related to Fedora and hardware devices. Very confusing at best. Editing the menu resulted in 
> the same 38 cryptically named choices related to Fedora. Unfortunately, I have no clue what the names of 
> these menu items should be. In either case, I am left with an inaccessible boot menu, and still need to 
> count the down arrow presses. Since I know my boot menu well, a silent boot loader isn't a problem, 
> especially if I am in meetings, and headphones are a distraction.
>
>
> On 07/14/2018 05:58 AM, Janina Sajka via orca-list wrote:
> > Hello, Didier!
> >
> > Very impressive script!
> >
> > Unsurprisingly, on my main Desktop machine I get:
> >
> > EFI booting is not enabled, game over.
> >
> >
> > That leaves me only with an Apple Airbook where I'm hesitent to
> > overwrite anything Apple specific. It would be nice to know one could do
> > that, though. So, I'm thinking of a way to test undestructively.
> > Perhaps, if the script runs properly on OS X, writing to USB would be
> > the test?
> >
> > Just thinking aloud ...
> >
> > Janina
> >
> > On 7/13/18, Didier Spaier <didier slint fr> wrote:
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I just uploaded an new version of EFI3M on GitHub:
> > > https://github.com/DidierSpaier/EFI3M
> > >
> > > You can get it typing:
> > > wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DidierSpaier/EFI3M/master/EFI3M
> > >
> > > This will download the shell script EFI3M that should be run as root.
> > >
> > > Enhancements:
> > > I have checked that script can be used with speech using orca.
> > >
> > > This is also true on the console using espeakup, only moving a boot
> > > entry up or down while reordering the boot entries is not spoken, I
> > > don't know why.
> > >
> > > Reordering the boot entries is now simpler: just select a boot entry
> > > typing its number, then move it with the up or down arrow key. the
> > > corresponding line will be distinguished from the others by a * as first
> > > character.
> > >
> > > I will just paste below the second page of the requirements and features
> > > as displayed by the script itself as it details the sound features:
> > >
> > > <quoted page below>
> > > Requirements:
> > > GRUB version at least 2.02 should be installed, as well as usual
> > > utilities found in pretty much any Linux distribution.
> > >
> > > Sound aid for the visually impaired:
> > > After booting, navigate in the menu with the up and down arrow keys.
> > > If brltty, espeakup or orca is active when EFI3M is run:
> > > 1) A Beep is emitted as soon as the menu is displayed.
> > > 2) When pressing Enter on the menu entry n (numbered from the top of
> > >     the menu), a tune of n sounds is played. The user can then confirm
> > >     this choice pressing Enter (the same tune is then played again) or go
> > >     back to the top of the menu pressing the Esc key.
> > > 3) The same apply to the the last entries, Halt and Reboot. A descending
> > >     arpeggio is played for Halt, a descending followed by an ascending
> > >     arpeggio for Reboot. Again, confirm with Enter or cancel with Esc.
> > >
> > > The sound can also be set afterwards: type 4 in the main menu of EFI3M,
> > > then M for Mute or S for Sound, and validate the setting typing V.
> > >
> > > To apply the modification to an USB stick you will need to write again
> > > the menu on it, typing 3 in the main menu.
> > > <quoted page ended above>
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > >
> > > Didier
> > > _______________________________________________
> > _______________________________________________
> > orca-list mailing list
> > orca-list gnome org
> > https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> > Orca wiki: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Orca
> > Orca documentation: https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/
> > GNOME Universal Access guide: https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/a11y.html
> > Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> orca-list mailing list
> orca-list gnome org
> https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/orca-list
> Orca wiki: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Orca
> Orca documentation: https://help.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/
> GNOME Universal Access guide: https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/a11y.html
> Log bugs and feature requests at http://bugzilla.gnome.org