Bill Sommerfeld wrote: > On Wed, 2007-04-04 at 00:31 +0530, Moinak Ghosh wrote: >>> These are solutions to a problem, so what is the underlying problem >>> you would like addressed? To be assured that the install hasn't locked >>> up? A more accurate indication of the progress of the install? >>> Information that would help you debug install problems? And given a >>> clear problem statement, what information would be most helpful? >> As you mentioned one would like to know where on earth the installer >> is stuck if it gets stuck and there is no disk activity. Either a scrolling >> display >> or a way to see the current snapshot of the log will be useful. > > Indeed. I've had to debug a couple OS problems which manifested > themselves only during install and it helps quite a bit to have a > detailed progress report you can watch in real time what the installer > is doing. It would be valuable even if it *normally* goes by too fast > to read and rendering it slows down the install by a lot when it's > enabled -- because it would more clearly identify *where* you were when > it got stuck.
Just a thought, how about a 4 digit output somewhere in the install screen that gets updated with each process. High order character would be a major section - disk prep, package stall etc., minor characters would be individual components, such as slice format, individual components. That way even if individual components happen too fast to see, then you would see the major progress. And if there was a hang or unreasonable delay, it would be clear where this is happening. And of course a published schedule to interpret the characters.
