Feature #11638

Tell 32-bit users why Tails cannot start

Added by intrigeri 2016-08-15 09:19:11 . Updated 2017-06-10 12:35:46 .

Status:
Resolved
Priority:
Normal
Assignee:
Category:
Hardware support
Target version:
Tails_3.0
Start date:
2016-08-15
Due date:
% Done:

10%

Feature Branch:
feature/8183-64bit-userspace
Type of work:
End-user documentation
Blueprint:

Starter:
Affected tool:
Deliverable for:

Description

Once we have Feature #8183, some computers won’t be able to start Tails anymore. We could use syslinux’ ifcpu64 module or similar to display a message explaining them what’s happening. This would decrease the load on our frontdesk, and be nicer to these users.

Subtasks

Related issues

Related to Tails - Feature #8183: Ship a 64-bit (x86_64) instead of 32-bit userspace Resolved 2016-10-11
Blocks Tails - Feature #12431: UX core work 2017Q2 Resolved 2017-04-07
Blocks Tails - Bug #11997: Write release notes for 3.0 Resolved 2016-11-25

History

#1 Updated by intrigeri 2016-08-15 09:19:26

  • Tracker changed from Bug to Feature
  • Target version changed from 2018 to Tails_3.0

#2 Updated by intrigeri 2016-08-15 09:19:37

  • related to Feature #8183: Ship a 64-bit (x86_64) instead of 32-bit userspace added

#3 Updated by sajolida 2016-08-23 08:53:28

I can help designing this screen. Do you want to write the syslinux code or have a mockup first? If you want the mockup first, please reassign this to me as “End-user documentation” so I have better chances to see this during the sprint in November.

#4 Updated by intrigeri 2016-08-25 01:37:58

> I can help designing this screen.

Thanks!

I think I should first look at what kind of format we can use (picture? text console? resolution thereof? etc.) under our technical & time constraints. Once this is done I’ll indeed would like help from you :)

IMO this is not a 3.0 release blocker and we should prioritize other tasks higher though.

#5 Updated by intrigeri 2016-08-28 09:52:28

  • Status changed from Confirmed to In Progress
  • Assignee set to sajolida
  • % Done changed from 0 to 10
  • Feature Branch set to feature/8183-64bit-userspace
  • Type of work changed from Code to User interface design

The topic branch for Feature #8183 (and subsequently this very ticket) now displays the content of config/binary_local-includes/isolinux/sorry32.txt when one attempts to start the ISO on a 32-bit machine. Given this was not a blocker, I am happy enough with this bonus nice feature, and have no plans to spend more time on it (even though I could certainly think of many ways in which the display of this mesage and the corresponding UX could be sligthly improved, in the end the sad reality will have to hit the user: they need to find another computer).

Note that the leading+trailing empty lines are there on purpose, to make the text more visible in the middle of the other BIOS & syslinux messages. Feel free to improve the text directly in the topic branch, and to test on 32-bit (possibly virtual) hardware the resulting ISO image built by Jenkins :)

Thanks in advance, and thanks for motivating me to do it!

#6 Updated by sajolida 2016-12-05 13:10:37

  • related to Bug #11997: Write release notes for 3.0 added

#7 Updated by sajolida 2017-05-22 17:41:13

#8 Updated by sajolida 2017-05-22 17:41:15

  • QA Check set to Ready for QA

#9 Updated by sajolida 2017-05-22 22:17:54

  • Priority changed from Low to Normal
  • QA Check changed from Ready for QA to Dev Needed
  • Type of work changed from User interface design to End-user documentation

I’m fine with that message.

Now, on /doc/about/requirements we don’t really have “more information” than “Tails now requires a 64-bit computer” (as far as the architecture is concerned).

So I’m proposing to add a note in /doc/about/requirements that points to the section of the release notes that will explain the switch to 64-bits only.

#10 Updated by sajolida 2017-05-22 22:18:23

  • related to deleted (Bug #11997: Write release notes for 3.0)

#11 Updated by sajolida 2017-05-22 22:18:26

  • blocks Bug #11997: Write release notes for 3.0 added

#12 Updated by intrigeri 2017-05-27 09:21:59

sajolida wrote:
> Now, on /doc/about/requirements we don’t really have “more information” than “Tails now requires a 64-bit computer” (as far as the architecture is concerned).
>
> So I’m proposing to add a note in /doc/about/requirements that points to the section of the release notes that will explain the switch to 64-bits only.

… or point directly to the corresponding blog post (I guess the release notes will point to it too, but perhaps doc/about/requirements should avoid the intermediary hop through the 3.0 release notes?). Just a suggestion :)

#13 Updated by sajolida 2017-06-10 12:35:46

  • Status changed from In Progress to Resolved
  • Assignee deleted (sajolida)
  • QA Check deleted (Dev Needed)

Done with the blog post and the release notes.