RE: [PATCH 0/2][concept RFC] x86: BIOS-save kernel log to disk upon

RE: [PATCH 0/2][concept RFC] x86: BIOS-save kernel log to disk upon

[Luck, Tony]

>- The latest approach (proposed by Linus) is to forget the disk: jump to
>  real-mode, but display the kernel log in a fancy format (with scroll
>  ups and downs) instead.

A while ago (first Plumbers conference?) someone was talking about
using a 2-d barcode to display the tail of the kernel log & oops
register data - with the plan that you could capture the image with
a cell phone camera, and then get all the oops data without worrying
about transcription errors as you wrote down & re-typed all the hex.

Anyone know what happened to that plan?

-Tony

RE: [PATCH 0/2][concept RFC] x86: BIOS-save kernel log to disk upon

[Luck, Tony]

> - A bar code is encoded and i generally want to know what info i'm sending to
>   potentially untrusted parties ... also, i want to be sure i'm sending the right
>   oops, at a glance, before hitting 'send' on the email.

Maybe someone will write an iPhone/Android/Meego app that takes the picture, does
The decode and lets you look, together with options on whether to just send to
Your e-mail address, or to Cc; kerneloops?

> - A screenshot of a well-compressed oops output tells a lot of context as well:
>   surrounding kernel messages, general state of the system when it crashed.
>   Sometimes it tells me the type of the laptop as well, via the logo visible on the
>   border of the picture ;-) Context strengthens whether i can *trust* the oops - 
>   and often i'm really in doubt about oopses and want more context.

Perhaps some of this context can be encoded in the barcode too?

-Tony

RE: [PATCH 0/2][concept RFC] x86: BIOS-save kernel log to disk upon

[Luck, Tony]

> Yeah, i've done it countless times and it's very painful indeed - but the 
> alternative "losing context" would be even worse to me. Can we do both - i.e. have 
> the barcode on the screen alongside the oops itself? (although at that point they'll 
> be taking screen real estate from each other - degrading the information in *both* 
> venues.)
>
> Keyboard 'oops scrolling' driver with 'flip to barcode output' key? :-)

If we can make the screen scroll, or guarantee that a hot key will switch to
the barcode view, then those look like good solutions. Sharing space on a
non-scrollable view sounds like a poor choice. Perhaps better to have a
command line option to say which to provide (default = text).

-Tony

Re: [PATCH 0/2][concept RFC] x86: BIOS-save kernel log to disk

[Ahmed S. Darwish]

Hi,

Quick note: the Internet has just returned back here after a full
5-day shutdown by the “authorities”. I will hopefully return back
home on Saturday to continue working on this.

thanks,