Linux EFI?

Sun Mar 12 17:25:18 MST 2017

my current 2 machines that use UEFI both have a command interface. and contrary to the statement about over clocking, there are other tools in there used to troubleshoot problems (including a network testing tool, memory test tool and some others).

Now, I happen to be blind and require access to the UEFI prompt (which cannot be done from within the OS itself). It is a non-starter for me to have to wait for a tech to show up (which can cost upwards of $200 these days) or take my machine to a tech (same issue, only I have to travel there). In either case, my income does not allow for this, so I have to be able to do on my own. Besides, I have the skills to troubleshoot and fix most OS and hardware related problems, I just don't have the working eyes. Hence my need.

Yeah, as for getting a bootable ISO image with the required firmware binaries is a bit of a pain. I had to argue for over a month with Dell before they finally got the hint and sent me a disk. what it really took was a snail mail letter to their corporate offices with attention to the legal counsel and detailing the reasons why I was sending him the notice. They moved remarkably fast after that.

I still ended up having to take the machine to a local technology support outfit and it still cost me a pretty penny. All of this I could have accomplished without help had there been built-in accessibility. BTW, this is not a niche market issue anymore as more folks are discovering that accessibility features can allow them to do more without tying up their eyes (screen readers on smartphones for instance).

 Also, something like this would be helpful if you have a burned out (or broken) display lamp. you have some idea of what I go through when you are staring at a black screen.

anyway, I think I have explained why I need what I need.

-eric
from the central office of the Technomage Guild, access technology dept.

On Mar 12, 2017, at 2:01 AM, Nadim Hoque wrote:

> My question is do you have this ability in BIOS? All EFI is the boot code for the mother board so that it can initialize the hardware and boot the os. Yes there is a command line interface if the manufacturer decided to put one in. The purpose of UEFI was to over come some of the limitations of BIOS (particularly the 2tb boot partition limitation).To be honest the reason one would need to really interact with it these days is to change the boot order or to over clock the CPU. Essentially EFI simply replaced BIOS as the boot code for the computer
> 
> Regarding the recovery, yes there should be a way to recover the UEFI code on the computer. You would have to go to the manufactures website and download the boot able iso with the UEFI binaries on it. You might have to dig a little bit because most sites will list the updates and not the full image. Technically speaking the flash memory is to store the main EFI code but there is a small portion that is read only with the sole purpose of booting a CD-ROM to install the full UEFI image. The only issue is again the manufacture has to supply the image and in the worst case you do not find it you might need to contact support to get it, if you can.
> 
> PS. I used UEFI and EFI interchangably because they are pretty much the same thing.
> 
> On Sun, Mar 12, 2017 at 12:37 AM, Eric Oyen <eric.oyen at icloud.com> wrote:
> these days, speech can be handled almost entirely in software. the only hardware needed is a basic sound device.
> 
> thats what I use here on the mac. voiceover screen reader talks  on the system sound device. It's pretty much all software at this point. The same for jaws or NVDA in windows and definitely the same way for any of the half dozen or so text to speech engines available in linux.
> 
> BrlTTY is the lightest weight of any of them and also carries the least dependencies. Any libraries needed can be compiled in.
> 
> I may have to sit down, turn on the linux machine and actually compile a source package for BrlTTY and see how much it takes on disk and how much memory it might use.
> 
> 
> On Mar 12, 2017, at 12:12 AM, Steve Litt wrote:
> 
> > On Sat, 11 Mar 2017 15:30:38 -0700
> > Eric Oyen <eric.oyen at icloud.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Steve, the wiki article does explain a lot, but there is no real
> >> support for blind IT personnel in it, let alone any support for those
> >> of us who are just plain computer users with some advanced skills.
> >
> > You still didn't answer what EFI is: Is it the boot method, or is it
> > something completely different, like Enhanced Fortified Interface?
> >
> 
> I believe someone else already answered this. Its basically a mini OS. It behaves in a similar fashion to a command line interface in that it is fully interactive. THis is far more flexible than the old standard Bios that only let you modify a few settings and not much else.
> 
> >>
> >> It's a nice command line interface that has a lot of the usual basic
> >> linux/unix utilities and programs, but no speech or braille support.
> >
> > What's a nice command line interface? Far as I know, the UEFI I've seen
> > acts pretty much like the old BIOS interface acted.
> >
> >>
> I didn't know of any old BIOS that contained an executable memory test program (memtest-86 is the closest utility I can think of).
> 
> >> Right now, I am composing a letter to the UEFI forum members in hopes
> >> that someone over there might listen and do some research. I am even
> >> offering some suggestions on how this can be done (given my
> >> experience with Ubuntu and Vinux respectively, it can be done). My
> >> only difficulty is that I am not a coder
> >
> > I don't know how expensive text to speech interfaces are. Given that
> > they existed on CPM machines in the 1980's, I imagine they're cheap
> > enough to put into a computer's pre-boot firmware.
> >
> >>
> read my response in the first paragraph. :)
> 
> >> Now, the wiki doesn't specifically stipulate what OS the UEFI is
> >> based on (and yes, its a bit more than a bios and less than a real
> >> full blown OS). what I do know is that it has a kernel, some basic
> >> utilities and a user interface. As far as I am concerned, thats a
> >> basic OS if there ever was one.
> >>
> >> so, this is what I want to do and it's the reason behind my original
> >> question. Making the UEFI accessible to those of us who are blind and
> >> working in the tech sector would certainly improve our capabilities
> >> as employees. It would be built-in accommodation without adding a lot
> >> of expense to the hardware.
> >
> > Assuming you're speaking of the configuration that happens when you hit
> > that special key combo pre-boot, I agree with you, although I have no
> > idea of the expense or cheapness. Other than text to speech being on
> > CPM computers in the 1980's :-)
> >> yeah, those days are long gone. so, also are the days of the $5,000 hardware speech synthesizer. telesensory used to make such units. They were ungodly expensive and required a serial port and a tsr program running in background. I sure do miss the old CP/M machines. you could do a lot with them.
> 
> >> So, with that being said, would it be possible? Given all the
> >> technology available, I say yes. So, what about the rest of you?
> >
> > Yes, but I'm still confused, because as far as I can see this thread has
> > nothing to do with Linux and everything to do with stuff that happens
> > before the initramfs begins to run. I'm not getting huffy and calling
> > it offtopic, I was just confused because I assumed it was about Linux,
> > which made the whole thing hard to understand.
> >
> > By the way, when you're talking to the UEFI guys, could you ask them to
> > have a special way to install a failsafe UEFI in case something
> > somebody does to their /proc/efi or whatever bricks their hardware?
> > This OS access to the firmware boot creates the first time since the
> > Chyrnobyl Virus around 2001 that software stuff can brick a mobo. I've
> > heard cases of people who, for whatever reason, did rm -rf /proc
> > assuming it would only affect their hard disk or RAM, and it nailed the
> > internal UEFI storage. Or these defective programs that fill up UEFI
> > storage to the point where the computer won't run well enough to delete
> > it, bricking the mobo. Seriously, it shouldn't be possible for a user
> > to destroy his hardware without a hammer.
> >
> 
> well, I think they are working on something like that now because of the leaks regarding the CIA mess. having a failsafe UEFI image available to restore the system would certainly be handy.-eric
> from the central office of the Technomage Guild, access technology dept.
> 
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> 
> -- 
> Nadim Hoque
> 
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