[systemd-devel] parallel fsck vs progressbar

[Miklos Vajna]

Hi,

We got some report[1] recently that not everyone is happy with the
current lack of fsck output during the boot process.

As far as I understand there are two conflicting requirement:

1. Execute fsck processes in parallel, as in case the disks are in
   different buses then this causes massive startup speedup.

2. Provide some feedback to a user on bootup on what happens
   (progressbar), otherwise she will think the machine just hangs.

Right now 1) is implemented in systemd and I understand that in case
multiple fsck processes are running in parallel, there is no easy way to
output a progressbar, as the result will be just a mess on the tty.

OTOH many users have a simple system with a single root partition, and
from their PoV a progressbar would not cause any slowdown. I crated a
proof-of-concept patch[2] to demonstrate what I'm talking about.

I'm aware that while this patch solves 2), it probably causes a slowdown
in 1).

So my question: Do you have an idea how could we handle the situation of
those single-partition users? Or is the slowdown introduced by the patch
considered minimal and it could be included?

Thanks.

[1] http://frugalware.org/pipermail/frugalware-devel/2010-December/009539.html
[2] http://frugalware.org/~vmiklos/patches/systemd-fsck-use-C-for-root-fs.patch
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