replacing the Startup Disk Creator

[Nio Wiklund]

Den 2015-09-28 kl. 13:56, skrev Marc Deslauriers:
> On 2015-09-28 07:48 AM, Nio Wiklund wrote:
>> Den 2015-09-21 kl. 18:03, skrev Nicholas Skaggs:
>>> On 09/19/2015 07:29 AM, Marc Deslauriers wrote:
>>>> On 2015-09-19 07:04 AM, Nio Wiklund wrote:
>>>>> Hi Marc,
>>>>>
>>>>> My standard ISP's mail server is down. So I tried to send this mail
>>>>> via Google's
>>>>> web mail interface. In my saved version of the mail, there is an
>>>>> attachment
>>>>> "SCC-test.ods", size 17692 bytes. I'll try again ...
>>>>>
>>>>> Best regards
>>>>> Nio
>>>>>
>>>> That's a very interesting spreadsheet, thanks for doing that. It seems
>>>> most
>>>> issues are:
>>>>
>>>> - A known bug in udisks that prevents the erase function from working
>>>> reliably
>>>> (LP: #1460602)
>>>>
>>>> - A mismatch between syslinux versions between the host system
>>>> creating the usb
>>>> key and the version being installed (LP: #1325801)
>>>>
>>>> - A limitation of the fix for the syslinux issue that prevents amd64
>>>> images from
>>>> being created on i386 systems (LP: #1446646)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I believe a simple way to eliminate every one of these issues at once
>>>> in UDC
>>>> would be to get rid of the persistence functionality. All of the
>>>> currently
>>>> supported images can now be written directly to a usb device as-is.
>>>>
>>>> The syslinux and boot loader mangling that is currently required for
>>>> persistence
>>>> and used to be required for older end of life releases is a constant
>>>> source of
>>>> problems each time a new release come out and is difficult to get working
>>>> properly on mismatched architectures.
>>>>
>>>> Removing persistence would also simplify the user interface and would
>>>> remove the
>>>> need of having the "Erase Disk" button, therefore eliminating the
>>>> known udisks
>>>> issue as a side effect.
>>>>
>>>> Advanced users who require generating a usb key with persistence can
>>>> simply use
>>>> one of the other tools that are available. Perhaps in the future
>>>> persistence
>>>> could be added back by creating a partition in the free space left
>>>> over after
>>>> copying over the image.
>>>>
>>>> Changing UDC to remove persistence and to copy images as-is is a
>>>> trivial change,
>>>> and I am willing to volunteer to do it.
>>>>
>>>> Marc.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Marc, this sounds like a great way to accomplishes two things at once.
>>> It both simplifies the application for users,  while making the process
>>> more robust. I'm in support.
>>>
>>> Nicholas
>>>
>>
>> Hi Nicholas and Marc,
>>
>> I have added two test cases to the spreadsheet, now updated to
>> 'SDC-test1.ods'. You find it via the following link
>>
>> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2291946&page=2&p=13358864#post13358864
>>
>> Would it be possible to remove persistence and to copy images as-is
>> already in Wily? Or will Wily be released with the most acute bugfix but
>> with some remaining serious bugs in the SDC, or maybe even without any
>> bugfix, if the limited time will only allow for more important
>> bug-fixes? Anyway, I can volunteer to help testing, what you develop, Marc.
>>
>> I have assumed that we are talking about 'removing persistence' in the
>> next release, 16.04 LTS, because there must be a formal decision. Is it
>> like this, Nicholas, or can we 'save the SDC is Wily' with Marc's
>> suggestion?
>>
> 
> Hi Nio,
> 
> I'm currently working on SDC in my free time. You can track progress here:
> 
> https://code.launchpad.net/~mdeslaur/usb-creator/imaging-rework
> 
> I still have a few things to fix, and then I'll build test packages to try out.
> 
> It's likely too late to have any rework in Wily, as we're already past feature
> freeze and UI freeze. That being said, I'd definitely like it to get SRUed into
> all releases when I'm done.
> 
> Marc.
> 

Hi Marc,

That's great news, that you have already started :-)

I did not know how it works. Please send a mail directly to me, when you
have something to test, and I will test it and give you feedback as soon
as possible.

It is as I feared, too late for the Wily release. But the next LTS will
be the important one, and SRU should be accepted. I'm thinking of the
previous LTS versions. to provide a reliable built-in tool to install
the next [LTS] version.

Best regards
Nio