3 files changed, 13 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/Master/install-tl b/Master/install-tl
index 0a52727c3d6..8aac28e7f06 100755
--- a/Master/install-tl
+++ b/Master/install-tl
@@ -788,6 +788,7 @@ sub only_load_remote {
       $media = 'NET';
     }
   }
+  if ($from_ext_gui) {print "location: $location\n";}
   return load_tlpdb();
 } # only_load_remote
 
diff --git a/Master/tlpkg/installer/install-menu-extl.pl b/Master/tlpkg/installer/install-menu-extl.pl
index b5e9e305091..b7b2a8662b2 100644
--- a/Master/tlpkg/installer/install-menu-extl.pl
+++ b/Master/tlpkg/installer/install-menu-extl.pl
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 
 # tell the frontend about all configurable options and terminate
 # this output with an agreed-upon termination string.  the frontend
-# will read the package database itself. From this, it can deduce
-# collections, schemes and platforms, but not the names of
-# platforms.
+# will get the required package database information from the back
+# end.  From this, it can deduce collections, schemes and platforms,
+# but not the names of platforms.
 
 # needed info:
 
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ our %vars; # only contains simple scalars
 
 our $opt_in_place;
 our $tlpdb;
-our @media_available;
 our $media;
 our $previoustlpdb;
 our @collections_std;
@@ -64,7 +63,6 @@ $::deskintdesc[2] = "Launcher";
 
 # %vars hash should eventually include each binary, collection and scheme
 # as individual schalars.
-
 do_remote_init();
 # the above sub adds all platforms and collections to %vars
 # but maybe not schemes so we add these now:
diff --git a/Master/tlpkg/installer/install-tl-gui.tcl b/Master/tlpkg/installer/install-tl-gui.tcl
index 39814a6de6e..76e9333a783 100755
--- a/Master/tlpkg/installer/install-tl-gui.tcl
+++ b/Master/tlpkg/installer/install-tl-gui.tcl
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env wish
 
-# Copyright 2018 Siep Kroonenberg
+# Copyright 2018, 2019 Siep Kroonenberg
 
 # This file is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2
 # or any later version.
@@ -1695,6 +1695,7 @@ proc main_prog {} {
 
   # possible input from perl until the menu starts:
   # - question about prior canceled installation
+  # - location (=repository)
   # - menu data, help, version, print-platform
   set ::did_gui 0
   set answer ""
@@ -1732,6 +1733,13 @@ proc main_prog {} {
       set ::out_log {}
       set answer "startinst"
       break
+    } elseif [string match "location: ?*" $l] {
+      if [winfo exists .loading] {
+        wm iconify .
+        .loading configure -text [__ "Loading from %s" [string range $l 10 end]]
+        wm deiconify .
+        update
+      }
     } else {
       lappend ::out_log $l
     }