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Google Summer of Code Interested Student

Caden Kline
 

Hello, My name is Caden Kline. I am a freshmen Computer Science major in the US. I intend to specialize in Systems or Security or both. The main two tasks I am hoping to apply for are "Terminal driver improvements" and "Writing Unit Tests". However, I am primarily interested in any system level work and willing to work on anything. I am concerned about the difficulty in completing these tasks so I'm going to list my experience.

My relevant experience for C programming language is a one semester introduction to C and Unix class I am currently taking. Outside of formal experience, I have primarily interacted with C and assembly with capture the flag/wargame binary exploitation challenges, and unfinished projects such as a chip8 emulator. My primary programming experience is Java and Python thanks to my high school and college classes. I have participated in several past google code-ins. My github profile is https://github.com/Pokemod97 .

Is there anything I can do to improve my chances to be selected or any other feedback? Thank you for taking the time to read this message.
Laszlo Ersek
 

adding Nate

On 03/10/21 03:10, cadenkline9@... wrote:
Hello, My name is Caden Kline. I am a freshmen Computer Science major in the US. I intend to specialize in Systems or Security or both. The main two tasks I am hoping to apply for are "Terminal driver improvements" and "Writing Unit Tests". However, I am primarily interested in any system level work and willing to work on anything. I am concerned about the difficulty in completing these tasks so I'm going to list my experience.

My relevant experience for C programming language is a one semester introduction to C and Unix class I am currently taking. Outside of formal experience, I have primarily interacted with C and assembly with capture the flag/wargame binary exploitation challenges, and unfinished projects such as a chip8 emulator. My primary programming experience is Java and Python thanks to my high school and college classes. I have participated in several past google code-ins. My github profile is https://github.com/Pokemod97 .

Is there anything I can do to improve my chances to be selected or any other feedback? Thank you for taking the time to read this message.
Nate DeSimone
 

Hi Caden,

Great to meet you and welcome to the TianoCore project! Glad you hear you are interested! Sorry it has taken me a while to get back to you, researching the topics you are interested in ended up being somewhat involved ๐Ÿ˜Š.

I went back and did some investigation of current state of the terminal driver, and some of the work has already been done. However, there are some things missing and some odd bugs that need attention. To give you a little more detail, the Terminal driver is located at https://github.com/tianocore/edk2/tree/master/MdeModulePkg/Universal/Console/TerminalDxe

The most prevalent use case for the terminal driver is to display the BIOS setup menu on headless server systems using a PC style serial port connected to a laptop via null modem. This allows administrators to adjust BIOS settings on rack mounted systems without needing to connect a monitor and keyboard.

Historically, the BIOS setup menu would be rendered using the IBM PC VGA text mode, which encoded text using code page 437 (CP437). This was important for box-drawing characters, such as โ”Œ , โ”€ , and โ” , which VGA text mode encodes as 0xDA, 0xC4, and 0xBF respectively. However, most terminal emulators assume text to be encoded in UTF-8. Unicode defines these box drawing characters as 0x250C, 0x2500, and 0x2510. In UTF-8 encoding, these characters translate into 3 byte sequences of (0xE2, 0x94, 0x8C), (0xE2, 0x94, 0x80), and (0xE2, 0x94, 0x90) respectively. The VGA encodings of these box characters will end up generating errors if one attempts to decode them as strict UTF-8, though most terminals assume that the intended characters to be drawn are รš, ร„, and ยฟ, which have the Unicode character codes 0xDA, 0xC4, and 0xBF. The end result is the BIOS setup menu looks like this:

รšร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ยฟ
ยณ Device Manager ยณ
ร€ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร™

Devices List List all the Driver
> Driver Health Manager Health instances to
> RAM Disk Configuration manage
> OVMF Platform Configuration
> iSCSI Configuration
> Network Device List


Press ESC to exit.


รšร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ยฟ
ยณ ยณ
ยณ ^v=Move Highlight <Enter>=Select Entry Esc=Exit ยณ
ร€ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร™

Instead of like this:

โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ Device Manager โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜

Devices List List all the Driver
> Driver Health Manager Health instances to
> RAM Disk Configuration manage
> OVMF Platform Configuration
> iSCSI Configuration
> Network Device List


Press ESC to exit.


โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ โ”‚
โ”‚ ^v=Move Highlight <Enter>=Select Entry Esc=Exit โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜

The terminal driver has fully supported both the legacy CP437 encoding and the UTF-8 encoding for more than 10 years now. Which mode to use is part of the configuration settings given to the terminal driver at start up. However, those configuration settings need to come from somewhere. For example, OVMF has the following page in its setup menu for configuring the serial terminal:

โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ Set COM Attributes โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜

Set COM Baud Rate <115200> Set COM Baud Rate
Set COM Data Bits <8>
Set COM Parity <None>
Set COM Stop Bits <One>
Set COM Terminal Type <PC_ANSI>
Set COM Flow Control <None>

Commit Changes and Exit
Discard Changes and Exit


โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ F9=Reset to Defaults F10=Save โ”‚
โ”‚ ^v=Move Highlight <Enter>=Select Entry Esc=Exit โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜

The default terminal type is PC_ANSI, which uses CP437. In this day and age that is probably not the right default anymore, though one could argue whether PC_ANSI being the default is a "bug". Here is the list of supported terminal types:

- PC_ANSI
- VT_100
- VT_100_PLUS
- VT_UTF8
- TTY_TERM
- LINUX
- XTERM_R6
- VT_400
- SCO

Now, here is the first unquestionable bug. All of these terminal types except for VT_UTF8 output the box drawing characters using CP437. The VT-100 did not use CP437 for box drawing characters. On the VT-100, the terminal driver should output the escape sequence "ESC ( 0" to switch the character set from ASCII to "DEC Special Graphics". Then, while in DEC Special Graphics mode, โ”Œ , โ”€ , and โ” , are encoded as 0x6C, 0x71, and 0x6B respectively. After outputting the box drawing characters, the terminal driver should switch back to ASCII using the escape sequence "ESC ( B". Implementing this will introduce the interesting problem of optimizing display performance by limiting the number of character mode switches.

For all the modes listed above, the VT-100 method should be used for drawing box characters (and other characters in the DEC special graphics character set) with the exception of PC_ANSI and VT_UTF8, which should use CP437 and UTF-8 respectively. In general, DEC special graphics has been around for such a long time that all terminal emulators support it, so it should be the preferred method of outputting characters outside the initial 0-127 basic ASCII codes, with UTF-8 as a fallback if the character can't be encoded by either basic ASCII or DEC special graphics. The difference between VT_UTF8 and the other modes is that DEC special graphics should never be used. PC_ANSI mode should never use DEC special graphics either.

Now, here is the second bug. That BIOS setup menu page that OVMF has for configuring the serial port has a field for setting the terminal type. But, changing the value in that field doesn't actually change the configuration data that is sent to the terminal driver. So the terminal driver always ends up using PC_ANSI mode even if the user changes that setting. This isnโ€™t a bug in the terminal driver really, itโ€™s a bug in OVMF's setup menu implementation. But it does create the appearance of a problem in the terminal driver and should be fixed as part of this GSoC project. This should be fixed in both he OVMF implementation and the MinPlatform implementation.

I'm not sure if the terminal driver improvements would absorb the entire 10 week coding window. If you had time left, you could consider spending it writing unit tests.

Looking at your experience, it seems like you have more experience with Python coding than with C coding. Both the terminal driver improvements and unit tests would be written in C. Another option you could consider is we have a lot of Python code in TianoCore as well. The two major pieces of Python code are BaseTools and EdkRepo. BaseTools provides the build system for TianoCore and implements the logic necessary to compile a BIOS ROM file from source. EdkRepo is the multi-repository tool for EDK II. EdkRepo automates common developer workflows for projects that use more than one git repository (many TianoCore projects do). We would gladly accept project proposals for either BaseTools or EdkRepo. If either of those interest you I can point you to some places where they can be improved and give you some project ideas.

The most important outcome from GSoC in our view is that our students learn something, get some exposure, and have a great experience that they will remember fondly for years to come. We want you to be successful. Gauge your comfort level and pick a project that you feel you can achieve in the 10 week period. Sorry for the long email, but I hope it helps. Finally I'd like to reiterate... Welcome to the project!

With Best Regards,
Nate

-----Original Message-----
From: Laszlo Ersek <lersek@...>
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2021 8:17 AM
To: discuss@edk2.groups.io
Cc: cadenkline9@...; Desimone, Nathaniel L <nathaniel.l.desimone@...>
Subject: Re: [edk2-discuss] Google Summer of Code Interested Student

adding Nate

On 03/10/21 03:10, mailto:cadenkline9@... wrote:
Hello, My name is Caden Kline. I am a freshmen Computer Science major in the US. I intend to specialize in Systems or Security or both. The main two tasks I am hoping to apply for are "Terminal driver improvements" and "Writing Unit Tests". However, I am primarily interested in any system level work and willing to work on anything. I am concerned about the difficulty in completing these tasks so I'm going to list my experience.

My relevant experience for C programming language is a one semester introduction to C and Unix class I am currently taking. Outside of formal experience, I have primarily interacted with C and assembly with capture the flag/wargame binary exploitation challenges, and unfinished projects such as a chip8 emulator. My primary programming experience is Java and Python thanks to my high school and college classes. I have participated in several past google code-ins. My github profile is https://github.com/Pokemod97 .

Is there anything I can do to improve my chances to be selected or any other feedback? Thank you for taking the time to read this message.
Laszlo Ersek
 

On 03/12/21 06:45, Desimone, Nathaniel L wrote:

Now, here is the second bug. That BIOS setup menu page that OVMF has
for configuring the serial port has a field for setting the terminal
type. But, changing the value in that field doesn't actually change
the configuration data that is sent to the terminal driver. So the
terminal driver always ends up using PC_ANSI mode even if the user
changes that setting. This isnโ€™t a bug in the terminal driver really,
itโ€™s a bug in OVMF's setup menu implementation. But it does create
the appearance of a problem in the terminal driver and should be
fixed as part of this GSoC project. This should be fixed in both he
OVMF implementation and the MinPlatform implementation.
It's a shortcoming of OVMF's PlatformBootManagerLib.

A solution would be nice where, if a (non-volatile) terminal type
setting existed, that would take effect, but if no such setting existed,
then we'd still automatically add the serial port(s) -- with some
default terminal type -- to the console I/O variables.

ArmVirtQemu's PlatformBootManagerLib works somewhat differently (see the
build-time feature test macro TTY_TERMINAL). I'm not up-to-date on
whether that PlatformBootManagerLib instance handles the Setup TUI-based
terminal type setting correctly.

As far as I can remember, the terminal type has always been hard-coded
in OVMF like this -- I believe it's not a regression (old or recent). I
guess I haven't seen a good PlatformBootManagerLib example on this topic.

Thanks
Laszlo
Nate DeSimone
 

I've created a new wiki page for this task with all the information I have gathered thus far. I've done some more experimentation and found that there are several newer terminal emulators that don't support DEC Special Graphics so I've reduced the number of modes where DEC Special Graphics should be preferred. Laszlo, if you could take a look at the terminal type matrix I created that would be very helpful.

https://github.com/tianocore/tianocore.github.io/wiki/Tasks-Terminal-driver-improvements

Thanks,
Nate

-----Original Message-----
From: discuss@edk2.groups.io <discuss@edk2.groups.io> On Behalf Of Nate
DeSimone
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2021 9:46 PM
To: cadenkline9@...
Cc: Laszlo Ersek <lersek@...>; discuss@edk2.groups.io;
devel@edk2.groups.io
Subject: Re: [edk2-discuss] Google Summer of Code Interested Student

Hi Caden,

Great to meet you and welcome to the TianoCore project! Glad you hear you
are interested! Sorry it has taken me a while to get back to you, researching
the topics you are interested in ended up being somewhat involved ๐Ÿ˜Š.

I went back and did some investigation of current state of the terminal
driver, and some of the work has already been done. However, there are
some things missing and some odd bugs that need attention. To give you a
little more detail, the Terminal driver is located at
https://github.com/tianocore/edk2/tree/master/MdeModulePkg/Universal
/Console/TerminalDxe

The most prevalent use case for the terminal driver is to display the BIOS
setup menu on headless server systems using a PC style serial port
connected to a laptop via null modem. This allows administrators to adjust
BIOS settings on rack mounted systems without needing to connect a
monitor and keyboard.

Historically, the BIOS setup menu would be rendered using the IBM PC VGA
text mode, which encoded text using code page 437 (CP437). This was
important for box-drawing characters, such as โ”Œ , โ”€ , and โ” , which VGA text
mode encodes as 0xDA, 0xC4, and 0xBF respectively. However, most
terminal emulators assume text to be encoded in UTF-8. Unicode defines
these box drawing characters as 0x250C, 0x2500, and 0x2510. In UTF-8
encoding, these characters translate into 3 byte sequences of (0xE2, 0x94,
0x8C), (0xE2, 0x94, 0x80), and (0xE2, 0x94, 0x90) respectively. The VGA
encodings of these box characters will end up generating errors if one
attempts to decode them as strict UTF-8, though most terminals assume that
the intended characters to be drawn are รš, ร„, and ยฟ, which have the Unicode
character codes 0xDA, 0xC4, and 0xBF. The end result is the BIOS setup menu
looks like this:

รšร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„
ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ยฟ
ยณ Device Manager ยณ
ร€ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„
ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร™

Devices List List all the Driver
> Driver Health Manager Health instances to
> RAM Disk Configuration manage
> OVMF Platform Configuration
> iSCSI Configuration
> Network Device List


Press ESC to exit.


รšร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„
ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ยฟ
ยณ ยณ
ยณ ^v=Move Highlight <Enter>=Select Entry Esc=Exit ยณ
ร€ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„
ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร™

Instead of like this:

โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€
โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ Device Manager โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€
โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜

Devices List List all the Driver
> Driver Health Manager Health instances to
> RAM Disk Configuration manage
> OVMF Platform Configuration
> iSCSI Configuration
> Network Device List


Press ESC to exit.


โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€
โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ โ”‚
โ”‚ ^v=Move Highlight <Enter>=Select Entry Esc=Exit โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€
โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜

The terminal driver has fully supported both the legacy CP437 encoding and
the UTF-8 encoding for more than 10 years now. Which mode to use is part
of the configuration settings given to the terminal driver at start up.
However, those configuration settings need to come from somewhere. For
example, OVMF has the following page in its setup menu for configuring the
serial terminal:

โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€
โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ Set COM Attributes โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€
โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜

Set COM Baud Rate <115200> Set COM Baud Rate
Set COM Data Bits <8>
Set COM Parity <None>
Set COM Stop Bits <One>
Set COM Terminal Type <PC_ANSI>
Set COM Flow Control <None>

Commit Changes and Exit
Discard Changes and Exit


โ”Œโ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€
โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”
โ”‚ F9=Reset to Defaults F10=Save โ”‚
โ”‚ ^v=Move Highlight <Enter>=Select Entry Esc=Exit โ”‚
โ””โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€
โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”€โ”˜

The default terminal type is PC_ANSI, which uses CP437. In this day and age
that is probably not the right default anymore, though one could argue
whether PC_ANSI being the default is a "bug". Here is the list of supported
terminal types:

- PC_ANSI
- VT_100
- VT_100_PLUS
- VT_UTF8
- TTY_TERM
- LINUX
- XTERM_R6
- VT_400
- SCO

Now, here is the first unquestionable bug. All of these terminal types except
for VT_UTF8 output the box drawing characters using CP437. The VT-100 did
not use CP437 for box drawing characters. On the VT-100, the terminal driver
should output the escape sequence "ESC ( 0" to switch the character set
from ASCII to "DEC Special Graphics". Then, while in DEC Special Graphics
mode, โ”Œ , โ”€ , and โ” , are encoded as 0x6C, 0x71, and 0x6B respectively. After
outputting the box drawing characters, the terminal driver should switch
back to ASCII using the escape sequence "ESC ( B". Implementing this will
introduce the interesting problem of optimizing display performance by
limiting the number of character mode switches.

For all the modes listed above, the VT-100 method should be used for
drawing box characters (and other characters in the DEC special graphics
character set) with the exception of PC_ANSI and VT_UTF8, which should
use CP437 and UTF-8 respectively. In general, DEC special graphics has been
around for such a long time that all terminal emulators support it, so it should
be the preferred method of outputting characters outside the initial 0-127
basic ASCII codes, with UTF-8 as a fallback if the character can't be encoded
by either basic ASCII or DEC special graphics. The difference between
VT_UTF8 and the other modes is that DEC special graphics should never be
used. PC_ANSI mode should never use DEC special graphics either.

Now, here is the second bug. That BIOS setup menu page that OVMF has for
configuring the serial port has a field for setting the terminal type. But,
changing the value in that field doesn't actually change the configuration data
that is sent to the terminal driver. So the terminal driver always ends up using
PC_ANSI mode even if the user changes that setting. This isnโ€™t a bug in the
terminal driver really, itโ€™s a bug in OVMF's setup menu implementation. But it
does create the appearance of a problem in the terminal driver and should
be fixed as part of this GSoC project. This should be fixed in both he OVMF
implementation and the MinPlatform implementation.

I'm not sure if the terminal driver improvements would absorb the entire 10
week coding window. If you had time left, you could consider spending it
writing unit tests.

Looking at your experience, it seems like you have more experience with
Python coding than with C coding. Both the terminal driver improvements
and unit tests would be written in C. Another option you could consider is we
have a lot of Python code in TianoCore as well. The two major pieces of
Python code are BaseTools and EdkRepo. BaseTools provides the build
system for TianoCore and implements the logic necessary to compile a BIOS
ROM file from source. EdkRepo is the multi-repository tool for EDK II.
EdkRepo automates common developer workflows for projects that use
more than one git repository (many TianoCore projects do). We would gladly
accept project proposals for either BaseTools or EdkRepo. If either of those
interest you I can point you to some places where they can be improved and
give you some project ideas.

The most important outcome from GSoC in our view is that our students
learn something, get some exposure, and have a great experience that they
will remember fondly for years to come. We want you to be successful.
Gauge your comfort level and pick a project that you feel you can achieve in
the 10 week period. Sorry for the long email, but I hope it helps. Finally I'd
like to reiterate... Welcome to the project!

With Best Regards,
Nate

-----Original Message-----
From: Laszlo Ersek <lersek@...>
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2021 8:17 AM
To: discuss@edk2.groups.io
Cc: cadenkline9@...; Desimone, Nathaniel L
<nathaniel.l.desimone@...>
Subject: Re: [edk2-discuss] Google Summer of Code Interested Student

adding Nate

On 03/10/21 03:10, mailto:cadenkline9@... wrote:
Hello, My name is Caden Kline. I am a freshmen Computer Science major in
the US. I intend to specialize in Systems or Security or both. The main two
tasks I am hoping to apply for are "Terminal driver improvements" and
"Writing Unit Tests". However, I am primarily interested in any system level
work and willing to work on anything. I am concerned about the difficulty in
completing these tasks so I'm going to list my experience.

My relevant experience for C programming language is a one semester
introduction to C and Unix class I am currently taking. Outside of formal
experience, I have primarily interacted with C and assembly with capture the
flag/wargame binary exploitation challenges, and unfinished projects such as
a chip8 emulator. My primary programming experience is Java and Python
thanks to my high school and college classes. I have participated in several
past google code-ins. My github profile is https://github.com/Pokemod97 .

Is there anything I can do to improve my chances to be selected or any
other feedback? Thank you for taking the time to read this message.
Nate DeSimone
 

Hi Laszlo,

-----Original Message-----
From: discuss@edk2.groups.io <discuss@edk2.groups.io> On Behalf Of
Laszlo Ersek
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2021 10:51 AM
To: Desimone, Nathaniel L <nathaniel.l.desimone@...>;
cadenkline9@...
Cc: discuss@edk2.groups.io; devel@edk2.groups.io
Subject: Re: [edk2-discuss] Google Summer of Code Interested Student

As far as I can remember, the terminal type has always been hard-coded in
OVMF like this -- I believe it's not a regression (old or recent). I guess I
haven't seen a good PlatformBootManagerLib example on this topic.
Yeah specifically on the topic of properly setting the terminal type, I don't think I've seen a completely correct implementation of PlatformBootManagerLib either. Agreed it is probably not a regression, but I still think it would be a great contribution to get this sorted out properly.


Thanks
Laszlo
Laszlo Ersek
 

Hi Nate,

(adding Leif and Ard)

On 03/13/21 03:52, Desimone, Nathaniel L wrote:
I've created a new wiki page for this task with all the information I
have gathered thus far. I've done some more experimentation and found
that there are several newer terminal emulators that don't support
DEC Special Graphics so I've reduced the number of modes where DEC
Special Graphics should be preferred. Laszlo, if you could take a
look at the terminal type matrix I created that would be very
helpful.

https://github.com/tianocore/tianocore.github.io/wiki/Tasks-Terminal-driver-improvements
(

My background:

I settled on plain (non-UTF-8) xterm around 1998, and have been using it
ever since. Whenever something was off, I always tried to hammer the
application into conformance with my particular xterm setup, rather than
the other way around. I also have some quirky terminal settings -- for
me, "backspace" generates ^H / keycode 22 (stty sets erase to ^H),
"delete" generates keycode 119, and there's no "rubout". I still don't
use UTF-8 (I use latin2).

)

* Regarding ArmVirtPkg, I stick with the default TTY_TERMINAL=FALSE
setting (which means VT-100). Using that setting, I see the following
kind of "ASCII approximation" for box drawing:

/------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
| Boot Manager |
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

I'm really happy with this, as I don't care much for nice-looking
boxes; instead I prefer portability.

(NB: this seems to disagree with your "Current Behavior (Which is
wrong)" line for VT100, as it suggests CP437. That's not what I'm
seeing with VT100.)

TTY_TERMINAL=TRUE would mainly affect backspace / delete I think -- as
far as I recall, that's why I asked Roy not to make TTY_TERMINAL=TRUE
the default, in 2015:

http://mid.mail-archive.com/555458DB.3090602@redhat.com
http://mid.mail-archive.com/CAFECyb_E+bGZt5xv7QhRqyD0jX=AzoEMw7VW_tjZr+E=sQf8ww@mail.gmail.com

(I'd like to CC Roy, but I can't tell if he's now working for Linaro,
Cavium, HPE, Marvell, or another company.)

* Regarding OvmfPkg, currently PC_ANSI is hard-coded, and for me it
looks like this:

รšร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ลผ
ล‚ Boot Manager ล‚
ล”ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ลฎ

Obviously I'd much prefer if I got the simple ASCII approximation here
as well.

* Whether VT100 and/or PC_ANSI and/or TTY_TERM are *officially* supposed
to use DEC Special Graphics, I can't tell.

I know what my preferences are:

- the current BackSpace and Delete mappings (which work fine for me
with both VT100 and PC_ANSI, but *not* with TTY_TERM),

- and the most primitive ASCII mapping (no special graphics, no UTF-8
sequences, etc). I really like a super dumb terminal, where taking
simple "ASCII screenshots" (and pasting them into plaintext emails!)
is *trivial*.

... Looking at your "Expected Behavior" table, there is only one line
left with "poor man's ASCII" -- namely, TTY_TERM. Unfortunately,
TTY_TERM breaks my BackSpace / Delete settings :(

* In summary, I'd prefer if (a) VT100 stayed as-is (using "poor man's
ASCII", as seen in ArmVirtPkg), and (b) if OVMF used *that* VT100,
rather than PC_ANSI, by default.

Thanks!
Laszlo
Nate DeSimone
 

Hi Laszlo,

-----Original Message-----
From: discuss@edk2.groups.io <discuss@edk2.groups.io> On Behalf Of
Laszlo Ersek
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2021 8:24 AM
To: Desimone, Nathaniel L <nathaniel.l.desimone@...>
Cc: discuss@edk2.groups.io; cadenkline9@...; edk2-devel-groups-io
<devel@edk2.groups.io>; Ard Biesheuvel (TianoCore)
<ardb+tianocore@...>; Leif Lindholm (Nuvia address)
<leif@...>
Subject: Re: [edk2-discuss] Google Summer of Code Interested Student

Hi Nate,

(adding Leif and Ard)

On 03/13/21 03:52, Desimone, Nathaniel L wrote:
I've created a new wiki page for this task with all the information I
have gathered thus far. I've done some more experimentation and found
that there are several newer terminal emulators that don't support DEC
Special Graphics so I've reduced the number of modes where DEC Special
Graphics should be preferred. Laszlo, if you could take a look at the
terminal type matrix I created that would be very helpful.

https://github.com/tianocore/tianocore.github.io/wiki/Tasks-Terminal-d
river-improvements
(

My background:

I settled on plain (non-UTF-8) xterm around 1998, and have been using it
ever since. Whenever something was off, I always tried to hammer the
application into conformance with my particular xterm setup, rather than the
other way around. I also have some quirky terminal settings -- for me,
"backspace" generates ^H / keycode 22 (stty sets erase to ^H), "delete"
generates keycode 119, and there's no "rubout". I still don't use UTF-8 (I use
latin2).

)

* Regarding ArmVirtPkg, I stick with the default TTY_TERMINAL=FALSE
setting (which means VT-100). Using that setting, I see the following
kind of "ASCII approximation" for box drawing:

/------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
| Boot Manager |
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

I'm really happy with this, as I don't care much for nice-looking
boxes; instead I prefer portability.

(NB: this seems to disagree with your "Current Behavior (Which is
wrong)" line for VT100, as it suggests CP437. That's not what I'm
seeing with VT100.)
I went back and looked at this is more detail, and I missed the following critical detail:

if (TerminalDevice->TerminalType != TerminalTypePcAnsi) {
GraphicChar = AsciiChar;
}

Yes you are totally right! I've adjusted the table to reflect this behavior.


TTY_TERMINAL=TRUE would mainly affect backspace / delete I think -- as
far as I recall, that's why I asked Roy not to make TTY_TERMINAL=TRUE
the default, in 2015:

http://mid.mail-archive.com/555458DB.3090602@redhat.com
http://mid.mail-
archive.com/CAFECyb_E+bGZt5xv7QhRqyD0jX=AzoEMw7VW_tjZr+E=sQf8w
w@...

(I'd like to CC Roy, but I can't tell if he's now working for Linaro,
Cavium, HPE, Marvell, or another company.)

* Regarding OvmfPkg, currently PC_ANSI is hard-coded, and for me it
looks like this:


รšร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„
ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ลผ
ล‚ Boot Manager ล‚

ล”ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„
ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ลฎ

Obviously I'd much prefer if I got the simple ASCII approximation here
as well.

* Whether VT100 and/or PC_ANSI and/or TTY_TERM are *officially*
supposed
to use DEC Special Graphics, I can't tell.
The UEFI spec doesn't read on this at all, even though it describes VT100 and VT100+ as separate modes... it doesn't say how they differ. I agree with you that it seems reasonable for VT100 to keep character output to strict ASCII only... that way the "+" in VT100+ actually means something. I've updated the wiki accordingly.

I'd advocate for the default to be switched to VT_UTF8. I really don't think you will run into many terminal emulators that don't implement UTF-8 anymore, XTerm included. Those who want pure ASCII output can switch to VT100.


I know what my preferences are:

- the current BackSpace and Delete mappings (which work fine for me
with both VT100 and PC_ANSI, but *not* with TTY_TERM),

- and the most primitive ASCII mapping (no special graphics, no UTF-8
sequences, etc). I really like a super dumb terminal, where taking
simple "ASCII screenshots" (and pasting them into plaintext emails!)
is *trivial*.

... Looking at your "Expected Behavior" table, there is only one line
left with "poor man's ASCII" -- namely, TTY_TERM. Unfortunately,
TTY_TERM breaks my BackSpace / Delete settings :(

* In summary, I'd prefer if (a) VT100 stayed as-is (using "poor man's
ASCII", as seen in ArmVirtPkg), and (b) if OVMF used *that* VT100,
rather than PC_ANSI, by default.

Thanks!
Laszlo
Leif Lindholm <leif@...>
 

+Roy (now at Marvell)

/
Leif (now at Qualcomm)

On Tue, Mar 16, 2021 at 16:23:45 +0100, Laszlo Ersek wrote:
Hi Nate,

(adding Leif and Ard)

On 03/13/21 03:52, Desimone, Nathaniel L wrote:
I've created a new wiki page for this task with all the information I
have gathered thus far. I've done some more experimentation and found
that there are several newer terminal emulators that don't support
DEC Special Graphics so I've reduced the number of modes where DEC
Special Graphics should be preferred. Laszlo, if you could take a
look at the terminal type matrix I created that would be very
helpful.

https://github.com/tianocore/tianocore.github.io/wiki/Tasks-Terminal-driver-improvements
(

My background:

I settled on plain (non-UTF-8) xterm around 1998, and have been using it
ever since. Whenever something was off, I always tried to hammer the
application into conformance with my particular xterm setup, rather than
the other way around. I also have some quirky terminal settings -- for
me, "backspace" generates ^H / keycode 22 (stty sets erase to ^H),
"delete" generates keycode 119, and there's no "rubout". I still don't
use UTF-8 (I use latin2).

)

* Regarding ArmVirtPkg, I stick with the default TTY_TERMINAL=FALSE
setting (which means VT-100). Using that setting, I see the following
kind of "ASCII approximation" for box drawing:

/------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
| Boot Manager |
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

I'm really happy with this, as I don't care much for nice-looking
boxes; instead I prefer portability.

(NB: this seems to disagree with your "Current Behavior (Which is
wrong)" line for VT100, as it suggests CP437. That's not what I'm
seeing with VT100.)

TTY_TERMINAL=TRUE would mainly affect backspace / delete I think -- as
far as I recall, that's why I asked Roy not to make TTY_TERMINAL=TRUE
the default, in 2015:

http://mid.mail-archive.com/555458DB.3090602@redhat.com
http://mid.mail-archive.com/CAFECyb_E+bGZt5xv7QhRqyD0jX=AzoEMw7VW_tjZr+E=sQf8ww@mail.gmail.com

(I'd like to CC Roy, but I can't tell if he's now working for Linaro,
Cavium, HPE, Marvell, or another company.)

* Regarding OvmfPkg, currently PC_ANSI is hard-coded, and for me it
looks like this:

รšร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ลผ
ล‚ Boot Manager ล‚
ล”ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ร„ลฎ

Obviously I'd much prefer if I got the simple ASCII approximation here
as well.

* Whether VT100 and/or PC_ANSI and/or TTY_TERM are *officially* supposed
to use DEC Special Graphics, I can't tell.

I know what my preferences are:

- the current BackSpace and Delete mappings (which work fine for me
with both VT100 and PC_ANSI, but *not* with TTY_TERM),

- and the most primitive ASCII mapping (no special graphics, no UTF-8
sequences, etc). I really like a super dumb terminal, where taking
simple "ASCII screenshots" (and pasting them into plaintext emails!)
is *trivial*.

... Looking at your "Expected Behavior" table, there is only one line
left with "poor man's ASCII" -- namely, TTY_TERM. Unfortunately,
TTY_TERM breaks my BackSpace / Delete settings :(

* In summary, I'd prefer if (a) VT100 stayed as-is (using "poor man's
ASCII", as seen in ArmVirtPkg), and (b) if OVMF used *that* VT100,
rather than PC_ANSI, by default.

Thanks!
Laszlo
Laszlo Ersek
 

On 03/17/21 00:25, Desimone, Nathaniel L wrote:

The UEFI spec doesn't read on this at all, even though it describes
VT100 and VT100+ as separate modes... it doesn't say how they differ.
I agree with you that it seems reasonable for VT100 to keep character
output to strict ASCII only... that way the "+" in VT100+ actually
means something. I've updated the wiki accordingly.

I'd advocate for the default to be switched to VT_UTF8. I really
don't think you will run into many terminal emulators that don't
implement UTF-8 anymore, XTerm included. Those who want pure ASCII
output can switch to VT100.
Hmmm, OK. As long as I can permanently switch my domains, one by one, to
VT100, I guess I'll be fine.

Thanks!
Laszlo

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