[Bug 1829620] Re: intel-microcode on ASUS makes kernel stuck during loading initramfs on bionic-updates, bionic-security

Wed May 22 18:57:17 UTC 2019

On 2019-05-22 17:13:02, Mark wrote:
> > This may be a bug in how the kernel is loading the microcode
> 
> can you review the liquorix patches? Their kernel boots with said
> microcode.

I compared the arch/x86/ source code directories in the liquorix and
Ubuntu kernels. While there are a large amount of differences, I didn't
see anything that would cause a microcode loading behavior change.

This has me wondering about a few things regarding your being able to
boot the liquorix kernel in comment #41.

A) 'dmesg | grep microcode' showed no output. This is confusing because
   the microcode loader should print information when it loads
   microcode unless it is disabled. Your /proc/cmdline doesn't show the
   dis_ucode_ldr kernel parameter being in use but the use of that
   option would prevent anything from being printed by the microcode
   loader.

B) You have the latest microcode revision (0xb8) loaded according to
   /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/microcode/version. That means that
   either the kernel microcode loader did load microcode or you've
   recently installed a BIOS update which contains the latest microcode
   revision and the kernel microcode loader didn't do anything.

   Asus published BIOS version 302 for your laptop on 2019-04-02
   (https://www.asus.com/Laptops/ASUS-ZenBook-14-UX433FN/HelpDesk_BIOS/).
   It is has no release notes that I can find. The release date on the
   BIOS update comes after the date stamped in the microcode file
   (2019-03-30). That would be quite the turnaround time but it is
   technically possible that it contains revision 0xb8.

To summarize, maybe you've installed a BIOS update that includes the new
microcode and that's allowing you to boot the liquorix kernel because it
isn't doing a microcode load because of A) and/or B) above?

The upstream bug report has mentions of Arch, Fedora, Ubuntu, and
upstream kernels all being affected by this bug. I'm skeptical that the
liquorix kernel is doing microcode loading correctly, when nobody else
is, which is why I'm trying to double check everything in comment #41.

> Is there a PPA with vanilla kernel I should try?

We have a mainline vanilla kernel builds of 5.0.17 here:

  https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.0.17/

Unfortunately, the 5.0.18 build, which would more closely resemble the
liquorix kernel, isn't available yet.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1829620

Title:
  intel-microcode on ASUS makes kernel stuck during loading initramfs on
  bionic-updates, bionic-security

Status in intel-microcode package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in linux package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in linux-hwe package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in linux-hwe-edge package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  Description:
  - my system gets stuck at "Booting, Loading initramfs" (the first 2 lines of booting, after grub)
  - does not even show the enter cryptsetup passphrase
  - affected kernels:
  # apt list --installed |grep linux-signed
  WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.
  linux-signed-generic/bionic-security,bionic-updates,now 4.15.0.50.52 amd64 [installed]
  linux-signed-generic-hwe-18.04/bionic-security,bionic-updates,now 4.18.0.20.70 amd64 [installed]
  linux-signed-generic-hwe-18.04-edge/bionic-security,bionic-updates,now 5.0.0.15.71 amd64 [installed]

  - the setup is not new, has been working perfectly before (about 7
  days since my last restart?)

  System:
  - HW: ASUS Zenbook 14 UX433FN
  - Ubuntu 18.04, runing latest HWE, fully updated
  - grub(-pc), cryptsetup (crypttab entries for custom encrypted LUKS setup),

  Suspected/possible cause?:
  - recent intel-microcode package update
  - recent kernel package updates

  Steps taken:
  - tried to remove "splash quiet" from grub/kernel cmd line (also tried adding nosplash, noplymouth)
  - completely removed nvidia drivers (apt purge *nvidia*)
  - completely purged and reinstalled grub (grup-pc)
  - completely purged and reinstalled all kernels (headers, modules, image, ..)
  - toggle BIOS "fastboot" (now using OFF)
  - toggle UEFI SecureBoot (now using ON)
  - remove plymouth (apt remove *plymouth* , but the workaround is working with plymouth installed)

  Workaround:
  - so far, I'm only able to boot with non-Ubuntu kernel! (linux-image-liquorix-amd64)
  - which needs "splash" option ON
  - reinstall cryptsetup & update-grub (as suggested in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1829620/comments/10 )

  I am not sure how to get you more debug info, as this setup has been
  working before, and it's a very eary boot-process bug, so I can't even
  access dmesg etc.

  EDIT:

  Hypothesis:
  Only affects ASUS with i7-8565U Whiskey Lake Intel CPU

  Upstream Bug Report:
  https://github.com/intel/Intel-Linux-Processor-Microcode-Data-Files/issues/1

  WORKAROUND 1: disable intel microcode updates during boot
  From this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/intel-microcode/+bug/1759920
  1/ add the boot parameter: dis_ucode_ldr to /etc/default/grub
  2/ update-grub

  WORKAROUND 2: downgrade (and hold) intel-microcode to older version from bionic/main
  apt install --reinstall intel-microcode=3.20180312.0~ubuntu18.04.1

  ---
  ProblemType: Bug
  ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.6
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: KDE
  DistroRelease: KDE neon 18.04
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-12-23 (2337 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" - Release amd64 (20121017.1)
  Package: linux-hwe-edge (not installed)
  Tags:  bionic wayland-session
  Uname: Linux 5.0.0-17.1-liquorix-amd64 x86_64
  UnreportableReason: The running kernel is not an Ubuntu kernel
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
  UserGroups: adm libvirtd lpadmin netdev plugdev sudo vboxusers video
  _MarkForUpload: True
  ---
  ProblemType: Bug
  ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.6
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: KDE
  DistroRelease: KDE neon 18.04
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-12-23 (2339 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" - Release amd64 (20121017.1)
  Package: linux-hwe-edge
  PackageArchitecture: amd64
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.0.0-15.16~18.04.1-generic 5.0.6
  Tags: third-party-packages bionic wayland-session
  Uname: Linux 5.0.0-15-generic x86_64
  UnreportableReason: Toto není oficiální KDE balík. Prosíme odstraňte všechny balíky třetích stran a zkuste to znovu.
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
  UserGroups: adm libvirtd lpadmin netdev plugdev sudo video
  _MarkForUpload: True

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