Re: [PATCH 2/4] Accept Both ESC and F8 as user interrupt keys

[Hans de Goede]

Hi,

On 28-03-18 16:56, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 04:50:26PM +0200, Hans de Goede wrote:
> > On most Bay Trail, Cherry Trail and Apollo Lake devices the ESC key is
> > the hotkey to enter the BIOS/EFI setup screen.
> >
> > This makes it hard for the user to show the grub-menu when it is hidden
> > and a short timeout is used, because pressing ESC too early leads to the
> > user entering the BIOS/EFI setup screen.
> >
> > F8 is (almost?) always free (on X86/PC platforms) as Windows uses this for
> > its boot menu, so also accept F8 as interrupt/show-menu key. As an added
> > advantage this is also more discoverable / easier for users coming from
> > Windows.
>
> I have seen F8 and F12 used as boot menu keys on many systems.  I would
> not consider it usually free.  Maybe it has become less common after
> windows started using it, but it isn't that unusual.  ASUS seems to be
> a major user of F8 for boot menu.  Not exactly an uncommon system board.
> Some Lenovo desktops also use F8 for the boot menu.

Hmm, well people will still be able to use ESC to get the grub boot
menu, rather then the firmware boot-menu on those.

The problem is that our current check for ESC only approach is problematic
because it conflicts with the enter firmware-setup key on almost all Bay Trail,
Cherry Trail and Apollo Lake devices. You need to try hard to find a device
in one of those 3 categories which does not use ESC for this. Note I'm
aware some devices exist, but using ESC for this is really really common
among these devices.

I'm open to other suggestions, but I think we really need to add another
key to avoid the pressing ESC at boot already has another meaning problem
and F8 seems like an ok choice.

Either way thank you for the input on this.

Regards,

Hans