[SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

Scimmia · 2014-10-23 22:56:56

Does grub not add the initrd to the command line at all? God I hate grub2.

theodore · 2014-10-23 23:05:14

ok having a look again at the grub.cfg I see that the /intel-ucode.img that I have added is not there anymore...

...
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Arch Linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-3fe6bd0f-2a89-471b-aa97-42d47faceced' {
        load_video
        set gfxpayload=keep
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd0,msdos1'
        if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1  77c08e72-f477-4d34-a8c0-c1a47f637ec8
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 77c08e72-f477-4d34-a8c0-c1a47f637ec8
        fi
        echo    'Loading Linux linux ...'
        linux   /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda3 rw  rw radeon.modeset=1 radeon.gartsize=32 radeon.pcie_gen2=1
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Arch Linux' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-3fe6bd0f-2a89-471b-aa97-42d47faceced' {
        menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-linux-advanced-3fe6bd0f-2a89-471b-aa97-42d47faceced' {
                load_video
                set gfxpayload=keep
                insmod gzio
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd0,msdos1'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1  77c08e72-f477-4d34-a8c0-c1a47f637ec8
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 77c08e72-f477-4d34-a8c0-c1a47f637ec8
                fi
                echo    'Loading Linux linux ...'
                linux   /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda3 rw  rw radeon.modeset=1 radeon.gartsize=32 radeon.pcie_gen2=1
                echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
                initrd  /initramfs-linux.img
        }
        menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux linux (fallback initramfs)' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-linux-fallback-3fe6bd0f-2a89-471b-aa97-42d47faceced' {
                load_video
                set gfxpayload=keep
                insmod gzio
                insmod part_msdos
                insmod ext2
                set root='hd0,msdos1'
                if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1  77c08e72-f477-4d34-a8c0-c1a47f637ec8
                else
                  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 77c08e72-f477-4d34-a8c0-c1a47f637ec8
                fi
                echo    'Loading Linux linux ...'
                linux   /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda3 rw  rw radeon.modeset=1 radeon.gartsize=32 radeon.pcie_gen2=1
                echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
                initrd  /initramfs-linux-fallback.img
        }
}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
....

edit:

ok I see my mistake now, after adding the /intel-ucode.img line at the initrd I run

grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

which negated my edit. Though there is a note alert in the wiki about this, it is not that clear that you should run the grub-mkconfig command only if you modify the /etc/grub.d/10_linux file.

edit2:

everything works fine now, thanks for the hints Scimmia ;-)

Last edited by theodore (2014-10-23 23:24:36)

OdinEidolon · 2014-10-24 07:56:51

I don't find it pretty clever that the news post is so short and without explanation. Was it because of intel-ucode update? Was it because of the new 3.17 vanilla kernel? What if one is running an older kernel? Why not give at least an hint on why that has to be done? Without additional explanations, most users will just believe it's an harmless modification, apply it and find a broken system if they were using anything other than the vanilla kernel...
Yes it's immediately fixed by editing the bootloader lines, but wasn't it just easier to add "For those running linux>=3.17..."?

smirky · 2014-10-24 09:12:58

It's said in the wiki, which is linked in the news post. I actually don't see anything which isn't explained in the wiki.

OdinEidolon · 2014-10-24 09:25:33

smirky wrote:

It's said in the wiki, which is linked in the news post. I actually don't see anything which isn't explained in the wiki.

Oh, blimey, I'm an idiot. The Wiki link points to the #Enabling_Intel_Microcode_Updates section, which is exactly below the warning. As such, I did not see the big red warning sign as Firefox righteously jumps directly below it when clicking the wiki link.
Facepalm for me.

TheSaint · 2014-10-24 13:24:35

jasonwryan wrote:

No and no. Update to the new kernel and then follow the wiki...

I couldn't find mentions about EFIstub, to modify correctly with efibootmgr ?

jasonwryan · 2014-10-24 18:56:13

TheSaint wrote:

jasonwryan wrote:
No and no. Update to the new kernel and then follow the wiki...
I couldn't find mentions about EFIstub, to modify correctly with efibootmgr ?

Like this? https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mi … I_handover

Korcia · 2014-10-24 19:19:59

TheSaint wrote:

jasonwryan wrote:
No and no. Update to the new kernel and then follow the wiki...
I couldn't find mentions about EFIstub, to modify correctly with efibootmgr ?

THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD DO but you can guess from it.

In order to avoid a terrible mistake what I have done is to create a test new boot entry labeled "Archlinux microcode" like this:

1.- Go to your boot mountpoint, in my case is /boot
2.- #mkdir -p efi/arch
3.- cd /boot/efi/arch
4.- copy intel-ucode.img and initramfs.img from /boot to /boot/efi/arch
5.- copy and rename vmlinuz-linux from /boot to /boot/efi/arch/archmicrocode.efi
6.- use the efibootmgr as follows:
echo "root=/dev/sda3 rw initrd=/efi/arch/intel-ucode.img initrd=/efi/arch/initramfs-linux.img" | iconv -f ascii -t ucs2 | efibootmgr --create --disk /dev/sda --part 1 --label "Archlinux microcode" --loader '\efi\arch\archmicrocode.efi' --append-binary-args -
7.- reboot and choose this option from the uefi boot menu

It works but unfortunately in my case everytime I reboot this option dissapears from the uefi boot menu. I'm trying to figure it out.

mindcrime · 2014-10-24 20:19:32

Please ignore this post. I am dumb.

Reading this thread prompted me to actually read about what microcode is and I just have one quick question. I installed intel-ucode and edited my Gummiboot entry according to the wiki. When I reboot and run dmesg | grep microcode only CPU0 and CPU1 are "updated early to revision..." though I have 4 cores (CPU0, 1, 2, 3).

The wiki's example output only shows CPU0 being updated (and not the other), so I assume I am okay? But I want to be sure.

Last edited by mindcrime (2014-10-24 20:28:16)

TheSaint · 2014-10-25 06:12:16

Korcia wrote:

TheSaint wrote:
jasonwryan wrote:
No and no. Update to the new kernel and then follow the wiki...
I couldn't find mentions about EFIstub, to modify correctly with efibootmgr ?

Sorry everybody for the oversight.

Korcia wrote:

THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD DO but you can guess from it.

You gave me a good point to get through.

Arch Linux

#26 2014-10-23 22:56:56

Re: [SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

#27 2014-10-23 23:05:14

Re: [SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

#28 2014-10-24 07:56:51

Re: [SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

#29 2014-10-24 09:12:58

Re: [SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

#30 2014-10-24 09:25:33

Re: [SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

#31 2014-10-24 13:24:35

Re: [SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

#32 2014-10-24 18:56:13

Re: [SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

#33 2014-10-24 19:19:59

Re: [SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

#34 2014-10-24 20:19:32

Re: [SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

#35 2014-10-25 06:12:16

Re: [SOLVED]Can the Intel microcode update(/non-update) brick my computer?

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