SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

archuser_9999 · 2020-04-23 21:10:49

Hopefully this is a simple fix - perhaps I've overlooked something, or done something daft!

Set up a new install on a new-ish machine that has UEFI support. So, all to GPT etc. great...

Couldn't work out why I was getting kernel panics on boot. Finally chased it down... according to

# dmseg | grep microcode
[    0.033339] [Firmware Bug]: TSC_DEADLINE disabled due to Errata; please update microcode to version: 0x22 (or later)
[    0.107897] MDS: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode
[    0.617123] microcode: sig=0x306c3, pf=0x2, revision=0x12
[    0.617280] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.2.

so, I get the timing bug error that shuts me down, but I've just been in touch with the maintainer of the arch package intel-ucode who has just replied to confirm that in fact the last update (version 2019115) DOES contain fixes and is up to date.

Note that my previous installs (old machine now retired) used grub2 on an mft/gpt disk, and it would load the microcode just fine, so presumably when I built under that system this error wasn't occurring.

To test, I deleted intel-ucode.img from /boot (it wasn't loaded), and ran mkinitcpio -p linux (which is all I've ever done. My .conf contains both 'autodetect' and 'modconf').

The resulting intel-ucode.img file I looked at with iucode_tool and it told me there were no relevant files in there! I ran dmesg again, and got the same result!

Can someone please explain to me why generating my initramfs does not create an accurate ucode.img file? To be certain I booted off the live installer, mounted and -chroot into /mnt and ran it from there. Same result.

What do I need to set/configure/change in order to have this installed package correctly update my microcode?

Last edited by archuser_9999 (2020-04-24 00:17:50)

CarbonChauvinist · 2020-04-23 21:33:55

TMK intel-ucode.img is not generated by mkinitcpio and is provided by intel-ucode package. Make sure boot is mounted and (re)install the intel-ucode package to make sure you have the latest img in your boot directory.

You haven't told us what boot loader you're using - you'll ned to ensure that your boot loader is configured to load the microcode.

archuser_9999 · 2020-04-23 21:57:15

I did just reinstall.

I'm using rEFInd loader now.

I have the same result as previously i.e. it's out of date.

Perhaps there's something else entirely going on... I'll explain:

I'm okay with arch installs generally, but this was the first time on a UEFI system. So, a little bit more head scratching, but I created a vfat partition for EFI, then mounted my .ext4 partition, and a small SWAP partition too. Generated my /etc/fstab as per the guide, booted up etc. all as normal. Thus far the only difference I knew about was the fact that I'm using rEFInd and not grub, and that it's got a slightly different way of configuration. The machine in question was bought as a Windows 10 box. There's no secure boot enabled - far as I can see there's nothing to stop me adding my bootloader, and indeed I did write new GPT headers on the disk, thereby clearing them out completely and starting again. Did my formatting with fdisk during set up. All new tables and partitions, so I don't think I'm being messed with by UEFI bios.

Anyways, the rEFInd install script wrote out the default little config for me, so I have

/boot/refind_linux,conf
"Boot with standard options" "root=PARTUUID=926f88bb-7e63-4488-a2f0-716cfe62e6cf rw splash=silent quiet showopts"

and that is all. Just that. I hadn't questioned the fact that when I get to the boot screen, rEFInd simply asks: "boot vmlinuz-linux on EFI" and which brings up my system. I hadn't explicitly tried initrd=/boot/initramfs-linux.img because I assumed rEFInd was taking care of all this for me.

However - as perhaps related to the wider issue - if I try adding manual stanzas into boot, and in them do this:

>{
volume ARCH
initrd /boot/intel-ucode.img
}

I get another kernel panic. So, clearly the two issues are related, but currently I have NO CLUE why it is that I install the latest ucode updates from the official package, but they are NOT loaded, and my kernel can not see them - unless I'm looking in the wrong place.

Please assume (being serious here) that perhaps I have done something INCREDIBLY STUPID during set up or install, and that despite having followed the wiki install guide to the letter, maybe I've missed something, or forgotten to set or configure something properly?

liewkj · 2020-04-23 22:49:32

Use GRUB2.

Why switching out from the de facto GNU bootloader if you can't even manage to handle how things get loaded and booted.
GRUB2 is perfectly fine for UEFI/GPT boot and multi-boot. I have Win10/Arch dual-boot with GRUB2 on several UEFI Class-3/No-CSM systems.

archuser_9999 · 2020-04-23 23:24:04

a tiny bit unfair "if you can't handle how things get loaded and booted" do you not think? I came here to ask for help because err... I don't know what you know.

Anyway, you make a good point. To be honest ... I fancied a change? But yes, I hear you. In fact I've been jiggling with my installation since posting, and may indeed just go back to grub.

That aside, this doesn't address my main reason for posting, which was concerning why I'm not picking up the latest intel-ucode despite the maintainer says it's up to date (and obviously I believe him).

Slithery · 2020-04-23 23:35:10

Did you follow the instructions to enable refind to load the microcde?

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Microcode#rEFInd

archuser_9999 · 2020-04-23 23:51:13

Slithery wrote:

Did you follow the instructions to enable refind to load the microcde?

I most certainly did, and have, thank you. Further to the last post by liewkj though, and which made me think... I've reverted to grub and ditched rEFInd entirely. I'm back in familiar territory.

BUT!!!

my initial issue - my reason for coming here - is not solved. And now (he says) I recall... the way my last PC worked (under Linux) was that running mkinitcpio -p linux I could watch the output in the terminal scroll, and see that it had found the ucode, and thus it got folded into the kernel. So, knowing that I have NO NEED to start trying to manually configure grub past the defaults (because my previous experience has shown it to work perfectly fine out the box), the issue is now most certainly:

why, when I rebuild my image from preset, is it NOT picking up the ucode package? It IS installed - the very latest version is definitely installed - but it's NOT in my kernel and certainly NOT loaded.

CarbonChauvinist · 2020-04-23 23:56:43

Is your ESP /boot or /boot/EFI? Are you sure that the intel-ucode.img is being copied to the correct location? Are you sure your ESP is always mounted?

archuser_9999 · 2020-04-24 00:05:48

I just re-read the wiki. When it comes to installing grub in UEFI it says that /boot/efi is being deprecated, and to use simply /efi

I have done this, and the system boots and works fine. So, I have my ext4 on /dev/sda2 mounted at root / and where there's /boot/grub and I have /dev/sda1 mounted into /efi where I have efi/EFI/arch. That all looks exactly as it's supposed to.

However... and here you raise the important part: I had begun to doubt myself. I began to wonder why I'd always seen the ucode.img just sitting there with the initramfs in /boot. Answer: because running mkinit put it there.

I've just ONCE MORE rebuilt my image, and there's NO such file been created!

I seem to have a problem with building, or something? NO idea at all what it could be. Any suggestions? I use the default config, so just use # mkinitcpio -p linux just as I ALWAYS have. Only now, it's not creating any such file. Therefore my reasons for switching back to grub are currently invalidated, because there's no image for it to load.

How do I begin to troubleshoot my build process? Or instead - how do I double check and confirm the microcode install? Nothing on the wiki beyond "install it". Where's it supposed to be installed? Why can't mkinit find it?

liewkj · 2020-04-24 00:16:49

archuser_9999 wrote:

So, knowing that I have NO NEED to start trying to manually configure grub past the defaults (because my previous experience has shown it to work perfectly fine out the box), the issue is now most certainly:

Perhaps your memory didn't serve you right.
The system picked up ucode.img with

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

Or you may have customized mkinitcpio to include this step.

archuser_9999 · 2020-04-24 00:17:13

Issue closed: just did it for about a fifth time!!!! and it worked! picked up by grub. All good.

I'll say what - I think that because I hadn't been running the microcode at all, it perhaps just messed up something in the system? Anyway, ninth time lucky and all that! phew.

archuser_9999 · 2020-04-24 00:19:30

liewkj wrote:

archuser_9999 wrote:
So, knowing that I have NO NEED to start trying to manually configure grub past the defaults (because my previous experience has shown it to work perfectly fine out the box), the issue is now most certainly:
Perhaps your memory didn't serve you right.
The system picked up ucode.img with
$ sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Or you may have customized mkinitcpio to include this step.

timing - I only just posted that it's sorted itself out (yes - itself!)

But to answer you: nope, all good. I used exactly that command, and I've used grub for so long now that I could probably write out the config file by memory! So, whatever it was, it's un-messed itself

Arch Linux

#1 2020-04-23 21:10:49

SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#2 2020-04-23 21:33:55

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#3 2020-04-23 21:57:15

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#4 2020-04-23 22:49:32

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#5 2020-04-23 23:24:04

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#6 2020-04-23 23:35:10

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#7 2020-04-23 23:51:13

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#8 2020-04-23 23:56:43

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#9 2020-04-24 00:05:48

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#10 2020-04-24 00:16:49

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#11 2020-04-24 00:17:13

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

#12 2020-04-24 00:19:30

Re: SOLVED: I have latest intel-ucode, but my ucode.img

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