[PATCH v6 5/6] doc:bootmenu: add description for UEFI boot support

Takahiro Akashi takahiro.akashi at linaro.org
Wed May 18 03:31:20 CEST 2022


Kojima-san,

On Mon, May 16, 2022 at 08:00:41PM +0900, Masahisa Kojima wrote:
> The bootmenu enumerates the UEFI boot options
> for boot device selection.
> 
> This commit adds the description how the UEFI boot work
> in bootmenu. This commit also adds "Synopsis", "Description"
> and "Configuration" sections to follow the U-Boot command
> documentation format.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Masahisa Kojima <masahisa.kojima at linaro.org>
> ---
> Changes in v6:
> - remove distro boot related contents because the distro boot
> support in bootmenu is dropped

? I rejected it in my comment.
I don't think we have enough consensus yet.

> - update uefi entry example
> - add [delay] argument of bootmenu command
> - add description to enable uefi boot entry
> 
> Changes in v5:
> - follow the cmd documentation format same as other command, add "Synopsis",
>   "Description" add "Configuration" sections
> 
> Newly created in v4
> 
>  doc/usage/cmd/bootmenu.rst | 55 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 55 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/doc/usage/cmd/bootmenu.rst b/doc/usage/cmd/bootmenu.rst
> index 9430f8c9aa..6b154d9655 100644
> --- a/doc/usage/cmd/bootmenu.rst
> +++ b/doc/usage/cmd/bootmenu.rst
> @@ -4,6 +4,16 @@
>  bootmenu command
>  ================
>  
> +Synopsis
> +--------
> +
> +::
> +
> +    bootmenu [delay]
> +
> +Description
> +-----------
> +
>  The "bootmenu" command uses U-Boot menu interfaces and provides
>  a simple mechanism for creating menus with different boot items.
>  The cursor keys "Up" and "Down" are used for navigation through
> @@ -79,6 +89,35 @@ The above example will be rendered as below::
>  The selected menu entry will be highlighted - it will have inverted
>  background and text colors.
>  
> +UEFI boot variable enumeration
> +''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
> +
> +The bootmenu automatically generates the UEFI boot variable("BOOT####")
> +in order of "BootOrder".

To be strict, the bootmenu command *does not* create UEFI boot variables
(except ones for removable media).
So, I would suggest you to modify the text like:

If enabled, the bootmenu command will automatically generate and add
UEFI-related boot menu entries for
* possible bootable media with default file names
* user-defined UEFI boot options

Then,

> +The bootmenu automatically enumerates the possible bootable
> +media devices supporting EFI_SIMPLE_FILE_SYSTEM_PROTOCOL.
> +This auto generated entry is named as "<interface> <devnum>:<part>" format.
> +(e.g. "usb 0:1")
> +

> When the user selects the UEFI boot
> +variable entry, bootmenu sets the selected boot variable index
> +to "BootNext", then call the uefi boot manager with the command
> +"bootefi bootmgr".
> +
> +Example bootmenu is as below::
> +
> +    *** U-Boot Boot Menu ***
> +
> +       mmc 0:1
> +       mmc 0:2
> +       debian
> +       nvme 0:1
> +       ubuntu
> +       nvme 0:2
> +       usb 0:2

If I understand your patch correctly, menus are initially sorted out
in the order of
* user-defined bootmenu_xxx variables
* removable bootable media
* user-defined UEFI boot options

The example above looks odd.

That said, it would be worth mentioning that users can changes the order
among UEFI-related menus. (Right?)

In addition, please describe the default action if users do not select
anything.

-Takahiro Akashi


> +
> +Configuration
> +-------------
> +
>  The "bootmenu" command is enabled by::
>  
>      CONFIG_CMD_BOOTMENU=y
> @@ -88,3 +127,19 @@ To run the bootmenu at startup add these additional settings::
>      CONFIG_AUTOBOOT_KEYED=y
>      CONFIG_BOOTDELAY=30
>      CONFIG_AUTOBOOT_MENU_SHOW=y
> +
> +UEFI boot variable enumeration is enabled by::
> +
> +    CONFIG_AUTOBOOT_MENU_SHOW=y
> +
> +To improve the product security, entering U-Boot console from bootmenu
> +can be disabled by::
> +
> +    CONFIG_CMD_BOOTMENU_ENTER_UBOOT_CONSOLE=n
> +
> +To scan the discoverable devices connected to the buses such as
> +USB and PCIe prior to bootmenu showing up, CONFIG_PREBOOT can be
> +used to run the command before showing the bootmenu, i.e.::
> +
> +    CONFIG_USE_PREBOOT=y
> +    CONFIG_PREBOOT="pci enum; usb start; scsi scan; nvme scan; virtio scan"
> -- 
> 2.17.1
> 


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