Ubuntu
finish-install package

configure getty properly on serial consoles using hardware flow control

Bug #1320327 reported by dann frazier
8
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
finish-install (Ubuntu)
Fix Released
Undecided
Unassigned
Trusty
Fix Released
High
Unassigned
Ubuntu trusty-updates

Bug Description

[Impact]
Hardware that uses hardware flow control for the serial console will not run a getty in the correct mode, possibly causing loss of functionality. Canonical would like to enable some such hardware in an upcoming point release.

[Test Case]
Use d-i to install a system booted with hardware flow control enabled (e.g. console=ttyS0,115200n8r). On system boot, verify that the getty was started without the "-h" parameter.

But, I did test this by using a trusty installer w/ the upstream change on an HP Moonshot system, booted with both "console=ttyS0,115200" and "console=ttyS0,115200n8r", and observed no issues. I also confirmed the getty was
getting configured with the correct parameters in each case.

[Regression Potential]
Assuming the upstream fix is correct, the regression potential would be limited to hardware that reports itself as using hardware flow control, but does not actually work with hardware flow control. Discussion on the upstream list suggested this wasn't an issue: https://lists.debian.org/debian-boot/2014/05/msg00130.html

If the getty hardware flow control is broken, it might leave a system more unusable than it would be if incorrectly configured. The testing I performed (described above) found no such issues.

Of course, if the upstream fix is buggy, it could end up breaking the serial console configuration.

Revision history for this message
dann frazier (dannf) wrote :

Upstream fix:
http://anonscm.debian.org/gitweb/?p=d-i/finish-install.git;a=commitdiff;h=af8ac0c81100971cd2661f871e96c88b23aa402d

Revision history for this message
Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton) wrote :

The attachment "upstream fix" seems to be a debdiff. The ubuntu-sponsors team has been subscribed to the bug report so that they can review and hopefully sponsor the debdiff. If the attachment isn't a patch, please remove the "patch" flag from the attachment, remove the "patch" tag, and if you are member of the ~ubuntu-sponsors, unsubscribe the team.

[This is an automated message performed by a Launchpad user owned by ~brian-murray, for any issue please contact him.]

tags: added: patch
Revision history for this message
Gunnar Hjalmarsson (gunnarhj) wrote :

The fix is already in utopic.
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/finish-install/2.47ubuntu1

Changed in finish-install (Ubuntu):
status: New → Fix Released
Revision history for this message
Gunnar Hjalmarsson (gunnarhj) wrote :

Change status for now so this bug shows up in the sponsorship queue.

Changed in finish-install (Ubuntu):
status: Fix Released → In Progress
Brian Murray (brian-murray)
Changed in finish-install (Ubuntu):
status: In Progress → Fix Released
Changed in finish-install (Ubuntu Trusty):
status: New → In Progress
importance: Undecided → High
milestone: none → trusty-updates
Revision history for this message
dann frazier (dannf) wrote :
Revision history for this message
James Page (james-page) wrote :

Hi Dann

You debdiff LGTM - but as I'm not that familiar with this package I asked Colin or Adam for a second +1 before sponsoring.

Cheers

James

Revision history for this message
Colin Watson (cjwatson) wrote :

LGTM too.

Revision history for this message
Chris J Arges (arges) wrote :

Sponsored for Trusty.

Revision history for this message
Colin Watson (cjwatson) wrote : Please test proposed package

Hello dann, or anyone else affected,

Accepted finish-install into trusty-proposed. The package will build now and be available at http://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/finish-install/2.46ubuntu3 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, and change the tag from verification-needed to verification-done. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed. In either case, details of your testing will help us make a better decision.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance!

Changed in finish-install (Ubuntu Trusty):
status: In Progress → Fix Committed
tags: added: verification-needed
Revision history for this message
dann frazier (dannf) wrote :

I've tested with this update on systems with and without hw flow control serial consoles, and both worked as expected. Thanks Colin!

tags: added: verification-done
removed: verification-needed
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

This bug was fixed in the package finish-install - 2.46ubuntu3

---------------
finish-install (2.46ubuntu3) trusty; urgency=medium

  * Add support for serial consoles with hardware flow control,
    backported from upstream 2.47 (LP: #1320327).
 -- dann frazier <email address hidden> Tue, 01 Jul 2014 19:15:55 -0600

Changed in finish-install (Ubuntu Trusty):
status: Fix Committed → Fix Released
Revision history for this message
Colin Watson (cjwatson) wrote : Update Released

The verification of the Stable Release Update for finish-install has completed successfully and the package has now been released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regressions.

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