revisiting tunables under Safe Mode menu option

[Teske, Devin]

On Feb 27, 2012, at 2:45 AM, Andriy Gapon <avg at FreeBSD.org> wrote:

> on 30/01/2012 18:59 Andriy Gapon said the following:
>> 
>> First, I think that this proposal/discussion could have been more useful before
>> the 9.0.  Maybe the RE would be interested in adding another item to their
>> pre-release checklist: ask developers about what could be dropped and what should
>> be added to the Safe Mode settings in a new (.0) release.  Probably the developers
>> should keep the Safe Mode in mind too when adding new features or making other
>> drastic changes, but the reminder should be welcome.
> [snip]
>> o Since we have a separate ACPI option and because ACPI now is almost a mandatory
>> thing (and not a significant source of boot troubles), maybe we could remove the
>> code that automatically disables ACPI in Safe Mode?
>> 
>> o hint.apic.0.disabled - APIC code doesn't seem to be a significant source of boot
>> troubles, like ACPI it has become almost a mandatory thing.  So maybe we should
>> remove this setting?
> [dropped proposals snipped]
>> o hw.eisa_slot - Looks like something from ancient times.  Probably just
>> irrelevant for most systems.
>> 
>> o hint.kbdmux.0.disabled - I do not recall any recent problems with kbdmux.  In
>> fact disabling it may produce a surprising behavior for a user if there are
>> multiple keyboards actually attached.
>> 
>> Just so that the Safe Mode doesn't turn into a NOP I propose to add the following
>> tunables:
>> 
>> o kern.eventtimer.periodic=1 - Use periodic timer to drive clocks just in case a
>> system has any problems with the default mode.  Example: PR 164457.
>> 
>> o kern.geom.part.check_integrity=0 - Let GPART code be more permissive, could be
>> useful during upgrades from earlier versions of FreeBSD or when multi-booting with
>> other OSes.
>> 
>> o More?
>> 
> 
> How does the following look?
> diff --git a/sys/boot/forth/menu-commands.4th b/sys/boot/forth/menu-commands.4th
> index 828a148..41ba317 100644
> --- a/sys/boot/forth/menu-commands.4th
> +++ b/sys/boot/forth/menu-commands.4th
> @@ -62,30 +62,19 @@ marker task-menu-commands.4th
>    -rot 2dup 12 + c! rot    \ replace 'N' with ASCII numeral
> 
>    evaluate 0= if
> -        s" hint.apic.0.disabled" unsetenv
>        s" hw.ata.ata_dma" unsetenv
>        s" hw.ata.atapi_dma" unsetenv
>        s" hw.ata.wc" unsetenv
> -        s" hw.eisa_slots" unsetenv
> -        s" hint.kbdmux.0.disabled" unsetenv
> +        s" kern.eventtimer.periodic" unsetenv
> +        s" kern.geom.part.check_integrity" unsetenv
> +        s" debug.acpi.disabled" unsetenv
>    else
> -        \
> -        \ Toggle ACPI elements if necessary
> -        \
> -        acpipresent? if acpienabled? if
> -            menuacpi @ dup 0<> if
> -                toggle_menuitem ( N -- N )
> -            then
> -            drop
> -            acpi_disable
> -        then then
> -
> -        s" set hint.apic.0.disabled=1" evaluate
>        s" set hw.ata.ata_dma=0" evaluate
>        s" set hw.ata.atapi_dma=0" evaluate
>        s" set hw.ata.wc=0" evaluate
> -        s" set hw.eisa_slots=0" evaluate
> -        s" set hint.kbdmux.0.disabled=1" evaluate
> +        s" set kern.eventtimer.periodic=1" unsetenv
> +        s" set kern.geom.part.check_integrity=0" unsetenv
> +        s" set debug.acpi.disabled=hostres" unsetenv
>    then
> 
>    menu-redraw
> 
> 

The reasoning is sound and diff looks good.

+1 BUT... testing warranted and feedback from others should also be sought-after for consensus.

Good work.
-- 
Devin

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