Subject: Re: bug#66746: LUKS password prompt invisible, prompts twice

From: Josselin Poiret <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2023 20:44:55 +0200

Hi Caleb,

Caleb Herbert <[email-masked]> writes:

> Hardware: ThinkPad X200
> Firmware: Libreboot 2016
> OS: Guix System
>
> Expected behavior:
> Password prompt. Enter LUKS passphrase. Log into computer.
>
> Actual behavior:
> Password prompt. Enter LUKS passphrase. Select boot option from GRUB menu. Hangs, no password prompt. Enter passphrase (again) anyway: Boots normally.

I think this is a combination of two things: first, we currently need to
unlock the drive once for GRUB, and then once when Linux boots, hence
the two password prompts.  This is a known limitation, but the usual
workaround of adding a keyfile to the initrd wouldn't work in our case
for security reasons: the keyfile would end up in the store and be
world-readable, a disaster.

Regarding the second prompt being invisible, I think it might be related
to the framebuffer initialization for Libreboot since there have been
lots of reports about this.  I don't know anything myself, but maybe
someone else could chime in?

Best,
-- 
Josselin Poiret