> On Mar 23, 2017, at 9:22 PM, Steve McIntyre <st...@einval.com> wrote: > > Catherine, I'm curious - when was the last time you installed Debian > using d-i? I've now seen you several times write (like above) about > "backing out of the installer after the reboot". Are you talking about > a second stage of d-i after it's installed the base system? > My last Debian netinst installation was January 11, 2017.
Very early in the installation the installer looks for a network card to configure. If you have a NIC that will not function without non-free firmware this step fails, and the installer says it failed, but the installer still allows you to continue with the installation, installing all the base system files. Then it tells you the base system is installed, and it needs to reboot. It ejects the media and reboots into the installer. You can choose to quit at this point by choosing "back"rather than "continue" possibly more than once being needed. That is what I mean by "backing out" to deliberately get a base system install only. So, yes, I am talking about the second stage after it has installed the base system. If some beginner continued on past the reboot without a configured NIC they are given a list of mirrors, but will be unable to select and connect to one successfully. The installation fails at this point, being unable to continue, stuck in an infinite loop of failed mirror selection. They have a Debian base system installation now, their old OS overwritten, and no network capability to get the information they need to fix the problem. And that assumes they are even capable of working with the command line to to fix it - and most beginners are not. My argument is that the failure to configure a NIC in the first stage of the installer should be a fatal, show-stopping error with appropriate messaging to the user that no NIC is configured and non-free firmware is required. This would prevent many failed installations, while not preventing advanced users from quitting the installer after the base system is installed. Cathy
