[edk2-devel] [PATCH v1 3/3] MdeModulePkg/ConSplitter: Change StdErr color to EFI_LIGHTGRAY

Ard Biesheuvel ard.biesheuvel at arm.com
Fri Dec 4 14:13:31 UTC 2020 

Agreed. We can theorize endlessly about different combinations of StdOut
and StdErr, but in the meantime, the magenta serial output is very
annoying. For instance, if you boot Linux in OVMF using the serial
console, all Linux's console output is magenta (and therefore barely
legible on a black background) simply because it inherits the color
setting from the firmware.



On 12/4/20 1:42 PM, Samer El-Haj-Mahmoud wrote:
> StdErr console is required to be implemented by the UEFI spec to fill in
> the pointers in ST (even with a stubbed protocol implementation).
> 
>  
> 
> So if we agree that the color of the StdErr (required but low to no
> usage) is impacting the serial debug prints (high usage for DEBUG
> targets), why do we still insist on keeping the MAGENTA color for
> StdErr? Yes adding PCDs would be nice for platforms to select their
> default colors (and it should be done for both ConOut and StdErr), but
> that can be added later if there is a real ask for it.
> 
>  
> 
> I still do not see why the original patch of simply changing StdErr
> default color from MAGENTA to LIGHTGRAY (and avoid all of this headache)
> is problematic?! Please consider the original patch so we can close on
> this topic and move on.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> --Samer
> 
>  
> 
> *From:*devel at edk2.groups.io <devel at edk2.groups.io> *On Behalf Of *Gao,
> Zhichao via groups.io
> *Sent:* Friday, December 4, 2020 12:24 AM
> *To:* devel at edk2.groups.io; Samer El-Haj-Mahmoud
> <Samer.El-Haj-Mahmoud at arm.com>; lersek at redhat.com; gaoliming
> <gaoliming at byosoft.com.cn>
> *Cc:* Wang, Jian J <jian.j.wang at intel.com>; Wu, Hao A
> <hao.a.wu at intel.com>; Ni, Ray <ray.ni at intel.com>; Ard Biesheuvel
> <Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com>; 'Andy Lutomirski' <luto at kernel.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [edk2-devel] [PATCH v1 3/3] MdeModulePkg/ConSplitter:
> Change StdErr color to EFI_LIGHTGRAY
> 
>  
> 
> Normal DebugLib usually outputs string debug message only. It would show
> at the serial device with it current attributes. ErrOut and ConOut would
> change the attribute. That is why the color changes.
> 
> Actually I don’t see many usage of the ErrOut. I would suggest to remove
> ErrOut if you’re not using it for debug output.
> 
> For the Pcds, I agree to let the consumer to choose their wonder default
> color. But it is better to get the MdeModulePkg maintainers’ point.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Zhichao
> 
>  
> 
> *From:*devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>
> <devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>> *On Behalf Of
> *Samer El-Haj-Mahmoud
> *Sent:* Friday, December 4, 2020 9:21 AM
> *To:* devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>; Gao, Zhichao
> <zhichao.gao at intel.com <mailto:zhichao.gao at intel.com>>;
> lersek at redhat.com <mailto:lersek at redhat.com>; gaoliming
> <gaoliming at byosoft.com.cn <mailto:gaoliming at byosoft.com.cn>>
> *Cc:* Wang, Jian J <jian.j.wang at intel.com
> <mailto:jian.j.wang at intel.com>>; Wu, Hao A <hao.a.wu at intel.com
> <mailto:hao.a.wu at intel.com>>; Ni, Ray <ray.ni at intel.com
> <mailto:ray.ni at intel.com>>; Ard Biesheuvel <Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com
> <mailto:Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com>>; 'Andy Lutomirski' <luto at kernel.org
> <mailto:luto at kernel.org>>
> *Subject:* Re: [edk2-devel] [PATCH v1 3/3] MdeModulePkg/ConSplitter:
> Change StdErr color to EFI_LIGHTGRAY
> 
>  
> 
> It's actually all *DebugLibSerialPort :
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> https://github.com/tianocore/edk2-platforms/blob/master/Platform/RaspberryPi/RPi4/RPi4.dsc
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> DebugLib|MdePkg/Library/BaseDebugLibSerialPort/BaseDebugLibSerialPort.inf
> 
> DebugLib|MdePkg/Library/DxeRuntimeDebugLibSerialPort/DxeRuntimeDebugLibSerialPort.inf
> 
> 
> But I have seen this on other systems as well. 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> *From:* gaoliming <gaoliming at byosoft.com.cn
> <mailto:gaoliming at byosoft.com.cn>>
> *Sent:* Thursday, December 3, 2020, 8:11 PM
> *To:* devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>; Samer
> El-Haj-Mahmoud; zhichao.gao at intel.com <mailto:zhichao.gao at intel.com>;
> lersek at redhat.com <mailto:lersek at redhat.com>
> *Cc:* 'Wang, Jian J'; 'Wu, Hao A'; 'Ni, Ray'; Ard Biesheuvel; 'Andy
> Lutomirski'
> *Subject:* 回复: [edk2-devel] [PATCH v1 3/3] MdeModulePkg/ConSplitter:
> Change StdErr color to EFI_LIGHTGRAY
> 
>  
> 
> Samer:
>  Does all debug message output by PeiDxeDebugLibReportStatusCode? There
> is not debug message to print as UefiDebugLibStdErr or
> UefiDebugLibConOut. Right?
> 
> Thanks
> Liming
>> -----邮件原件-----
>> 发件人: bounce+27952+68301+4905953+8761045 at groups.io
> <mailto:bounce+27952+68301+4905953+8761045 at groups.io>
>> <bounce+27952+68301+4905953+8761045 at groups.io
> <mailto:bounce+27952+68301+4905953+8761045 at groups.io>> 代表Samer
>> El-Haj-Mahmoud
>> 发送时间: 2020年12月4日8:05
>> 收件人: devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>;
> zhichao.gao at intel.com <mailto:zhichao.gao at intel.com>; lersek at redhat.com
> <mailto:lersek at redhat.com>
>> 抄送: Wang, Jian J <jian.j.wang at intel.com
> <mailto:jian.j.wang at intel.com>>; Wu, Hao A
>> <hao.a.wu at intel.com <mailto:hao.a.wu at intel.com>>; Ni, Ray
> <ray.ni at intel.com <mailto:ray.ni at intel.com>>; Ard Biesheuvel
>> <Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com <mailto:Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com>>; Andy Lutomirski
> <luto at kernel.org <mailto:luto at kernel.org>>; Samer
>> El-Haj-Mahmoud <Samer.El-Haj-Mahmoud at arm.com <mailto:Samer.El-Haj-Mahmoud at arm.com>>
>> 主题: Re: [edk2-devel] [PATCH v1 3/3] MdeModulePkg/ConSplitter: Change
>> StdErr color to EFI_LIGHTGRAY
>> 
>> Zhichao,
>> 
>> I can understand the rationale if this is truly only for StdErr (although it would
>> have been nice to allow platforms to customize the color with a PCD).
>> However, I see the inconsistency in debug output with platforms I tested with.
>> For example, on the RPi, with DEBUG build, and all ConOut/StdErr and
>> DebugLiub using the same serial console. The serial debug starts with
>> LIGHTGRAY (attached screenshot 1), until gEfiStandardErrorDeviceGuid is
>> installed. At that point, the debug output switches to MAGENTA, and
>> continues to do so until entering the UI or booting to UEFI Shell, where the
>> color switches back to LIGHTGRAY (attached screenshot2). After that, all
>> ConOut and Debug output is LIGHTGRAY . I do not really know of any actual
>> StdErr output from the Shell.
>> 
>> So, there might be a bug somewhere that causes DEBUG output to switch to
>> MAGENTA and back. I am not really sure. But this inconsistency is annoying.
>> Can we simply avoid this by using a consistent color for all console output? Or
>> at least allow platforms to decide?
>> 
>> 
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io><devel at edk2.groups.io
> <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>> On Behalf Of Gao,
>> > Zhichao via groups.io
>> > Sent: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 6:05 AM
>> > To: Samer El-Haj-Mahmoud <Samer.El-Haj-Mahmoud at arm.com <mailto:Samer.El-Haj-Mahmoud at arm.com>>;
>> > devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>; lersek at redhat.com
> <mailto:lersek at redhat.com>
>> > Cc: Wang, Jian J <jian.j.wang at intel.com <mailto:jian.j.wang at intel.com>>; Wu, Hao A
>> > <hao.a.wu at intel.com <mailto:hao.a.wu at intel.com>>; Ni, Ray
> <ray.ni at intel.com <mailto:ray.ni at intel.com>>; Ard Biesheuvel
>> > <Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com <mailto:Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com>>; Andy Lutomirski
> <luto at kernel.org <mailto:luto at kernel.org>>
>> > Subject: Re: [edk2-devel] [PATCH v1 3/3] MdeModulePkg/ConSplitter:
>> > Change StdErr color to EFI_LIGHTGRAY
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > > -----Original Message-----
>> > > From: Samer El-Haj-Mahmoud <Samer.El-Haj-Mahmoud at arm.com <mailto:Samer.El-Haj-Mahmoud at arm.com>>
>> > > Sent: Tuesday, December 1, 2020 11:17 PM
>> > > To: Gao, Zhichao <zhichao.gao at intel.com <mailto:zhichao.gao at intel.com>>;
> devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>;
>> > > lersek at redhat.com <mailto:lersek at redhat.com>
>> > > Cc: Wang, Jian J <jian.j.wang at intel.com <mailto:jian.j.wang at intel.com>>; Wu, Hao A
>> > > <hao.a.wu at intel.com <mailto:hao.a.wu at intel.com>>; Ni, Ray
> <ray.ni at intel.com <mailto:ray.ni at intel.com>>; Ard Biesheuvel
>> > > <Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com <mailto:Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com>>; Andy Lutomirski
> <luto at kernel.org <mailto:luto at kernel.org>>; Samer
>> > > El-Haj-Mahmoud <Samer.El-Haj- Mahmoud at arm.com <mailto:Mahmoud at arm.com>>
>> > > Subject: RE: [edk2-devel] [PATCH v1 3/3] MdeModulePkg/ConSplitter:
>> > > Change StdErr color to EFI_LIGHTGRAY
>> > >
>> > > Why does StdErr have to be a different color from ConOut? If the
>> > > system redirected both streams to the same console output then that is
>> > their choice.
>> > > Serial DEBUG output is not a different color even if the DEBUG is
>> > > redirected to the same console as ConOut and StdErr. Also, from what I
>> > > have seen, StdErr does not seem to always retain this MAGENTA color
>> > > later (for example, after booting a UEFI Shell?).
>> >
>> > Can you share the use case of StdErr? Seems when using StdErr-
>> > >OutputString, the output is not always MAGENTA color. If so, it is a bug of
>> > console driver.
>> >
>> > I am thinking of one case. The platform only have the serial port without any
>> > other display device. System boots to uefi shell and run a debug build
>> > application. And the app would have both print output and debug print. If
>> > the color are same, the info of normal print and debug print would be mixed
>> > up. I am saying StdErr output not normal DebugLib.
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Zhichao
>> >
>> > >
>> > > Do users really care (other than being annoyed by the inconsistency of
>> > "some"
>> > > text showing up in purple?). Using the same color for consoles/DEBUG
>> > > output by default is consistent and clean. Applications/users can
>> > > always change the colors later to whatever is the preference for that
>> > particular UI/CLI.
>> > >
>> > > Thanks,
>> > > --Samer
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > > -----Original Message-----
>> > > > From: Gao, Zhichao <zhichao.gao at intel.com <mailto:zhichao.gao at intel.com>>
>> > > > Sent: Monday, November 30, 2020 8:00 PM
>> > > > To: devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>; lersek at redhat.com
> <mailto:lersek at redhat.com>; Samer El-Haj-Mahmoud
>> > > > <Samer.El-Haj-Mahmoud at arm.com <mailto:Samer.El-Haj-Mahmoud at arm.com>>
>> > > > Cc: Wang, Jian J <jian.j.wang at intel.com <mailto:jian.j.wang at intel.com>>; Wu, Hao A
>> > > > <hao.a.wu at intel.com <mailto:hao.a.wu at intel.com>>; Ni, Ray
> <ray.ni at intel.com <mailto:ray.ni at intel.com>>; Ard Biesheuvel
>> > > > <Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com <mailto:Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com>>; Andy Lutomirski
> <luto at kernel.org <mailto:luto at kernel.org>>
>> > > > Subject: RE: [edk2-devel] [PATCH v1 3/3] MdeModulePkg/ConSplitter:
>> > > > Change StdErr color to EFI_LIGHTGRAY
>> > > >
>> > > > I agree the EFI_MAGENTA is not a good choose. But this may be a
>> > > > different issue. Many platforms would set serial port as ConOut and
>> > > > ErrOut. The different colors for them can differ the origin. I don't
>> > > > think change them to the same color is a good idea.
>> > > >
>> > > > Thanks,
>> > > > Zhichao
>> > > >
>> > > > > -----Original Message-----
>> > > > > From: devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io><devel at edk2.groups.io
> <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>> On Behalf Of
>> > > > > Laszlo Ersek
>> > > > > Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2020 7:30 AM
>> > > > > To: devel at edk2.groups.io <mailto:devel at edk2.groups.io>;
> samer.el-haj-mahmoud at arm.com <mailto:samer.el-haj-mahmoud at arm.com>
>> > > > > Cc: Wang, Jian J <jian.j.wang at intel.com <mailto:jian.j.wang at intel.com>>; Wu, Hao A
>> > > > > <hao.a.wu at intel.com <mailto:hao.a.wu at intel.com>>; Gao, Zhichao
> <zhichao.gao at intel.com <mailto:zhichao.gao at intel.com>>; Ni,
>> > > > > Ray <ray.ni at intel.com <mailto:ray.ni at intel.com>>; Ard Biesheuvel
> <Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com <mailto:Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com>>;
>> > > > > Andy Lutomirski <luto at kernel.org <mailto:luto at kernel.org>>
>> > > > > Subject: Re: [edk2-devel] [PATCH v1 3/3] MdeModulePkg/ConSplitter:
>> > > > > Change StdErr color to EFI_LIGHTGRAY
>> > > > >
>> > > > > On 11/24/20 20:15, Samer El-Haj-Mahmoud wrote:
>> > > > > > ConSplitter was using EFI_LIGHTGRAY foreground color for ConOut
>> > > > > > and EFI_MAGENTA for StdErr.
>> > > > > >
>> > > > > > This does not work all the time, and StdErr ends up showing
>> > > > > > parts in MAGENTA and other parts in LIGHTGRAY. Changing StdErr
>> > > > > > to LIGHTGRAY looks better and is more consistent.
>> > > > > >
>> > > > > > Cc: Jian J Wang <jian.j.wang at intel.com <mailto:jian.j.wang at intel.com>>
>> > > > > > Cc: Hao A Wu <hao.a.wu at intel.com <mailto:hao.a.wu at intel.com>>
>> > > > > > Cc: Zhichao Gao <zhichao.gao at intel.com <mailto:zhichao.gao at intel.com>>
>> > > > > > Cc: Ray Ni <ray.ni at intel.com <mailto:ray.ni at intel.com>>
>> > > > > > Cc: Ard Biesheuvel <Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com <mailto:Ard.Biesheuvel at arm.com>>
>> > > > > > Signed-off-by: Samer El-Haj-Mahmoud <Samer.El-Haj-
>> > > > Mahmoud at arm.com <mailto:Mahmoud at arm.com>>
>> > > > > > ---
>> > > > > >  MdeModulePkg/Universal/Console/ConSplitterDxe/ConSplitter.c |
>> 2
>> > > > > > +-
>> > > > > >  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
>> > > > > >
>> > > > > > diff --git
>> > > > > > a/MdeModulePkg/Universal/Console/ConSplitterDxe/ConSplitter.c
>> > > > > > b/MdeModulePkg/Universal/Console/ConSplitterDxe/ConSplitter.c
>> > > > > > index b090de288517..e8cd4ce120a0 100644
>> > > > > > ---
>> > > > > > a/MdeModulePkg/Universal/Console/ConSplitterDxe/ConSplitter.c
>> > > > > > +++
>> > b/MdeModulePkg/Universal/Console/ConSplitterDxe/ConSplitter.
>> > > > > > +++ c
>> > > > > > @@ -1476,7 +1476,7 @@ ConSplitterStdErrDriverBindingStart (
>> > > > > >    // their MaxMode and QueryData should be the intersection of
>> > both.
>> > > > > >    //
>> > > > > >    Status = ConSplitterTextOutAddDevice (&mStdErr, TextOut,
>> > > > > > NULL, NULL);
>> > > > > > -  ConSplitterTextOutSetAttribute (&mStdErr.TextOut,
>> > > > > > EFI_TEXT_ATTR (EFI_MAGENTA, EFI_BLACK));
>> > > > > > +  ConSplitterTextOutSetAttribute (&mStdErr.TextOut,
>> > > > > > + EFI_TEXT_ATTR (EFI_LIGHTGRAY, EFI_BLACK));
>> > > > > >
>> > > > > >    return Status;
>> > > > > >  }
>> > > > > >
>> > > > >
>> > > > > I am very curious as to how this patch is going to fare, as Andy
>> > > > > Lutomirski (CC'd) reported the same symptom in a Fedora bugzilla
>> > > > > ticket
>> > > > > 4+ years ago:
>> > > > >
>> > > > > https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1355913
>> > > > >
>> > > > > As you can see in that BZ, I found the same code location, I just
>> > > > > didn't feel up to starting another crusade on edk2-devel -- about
>> > > > > colors even!... So I'll be watching this one now. :)
>> > > > >
>> > > > > Thanks
>> > > > > Laszlo
>> > > > >
>> > > > >
>> > > > >
>> > > > >
>> > > > >
>> > >
>> > > IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this email and any attachments are
>> > > confidential and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended
>> > > recipient, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose
>> > > the contents to any other person, use it for any purpose, or store or
>> > > copy the information in any medium. Thank you.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> 
>> IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this email and any attachments are
>> confidential and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient,
>> please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to any
>> other person, use it for any purpose, or store or copy the information in any
>> medium. Thank you.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
>  
> 
> IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this email and any attachments are
> confidential and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended
> recipient, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the
> contents to any other person, use it for any purpose, or store or copy
> the information in any medium. Thank you.
> 
> 
> 



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