[MSI A88XM-E45][A4-5300] 'buntu 14.04.1 constant reboot without nomodeset

[Yuv]

Machine was happy with Xubuntu 13.10, but the software has been discontinued and I was forced to upgrade. USB stick with 14.04.1 would reboot continuously. USB stick with 14.04.1 server installs flawlessly, but then the server itself reboots continuously.

WORKAROUND: Boot into recovery mode (hidden grub option)
* Drop to root shell
* Mount disk for read/write
* edit /etc/default/grub: find the line starting with 'GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=' and add the word nomodeset inside the quotes
* run update-grub and reboot

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: linux-image-3.13.0-35-generic 3.13.0-35.62
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-35.62-generic 3.13.11.6
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-35-generic x86_64
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version k3.13.0-35-generic.
AplayDevices: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'aplay'
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.3
Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'arecord'
AudioDevicesInUse: Error: command ['fuser', '-v', '/dev/snd/by-path', '/dev/snd/controlC1', '/dev/snd/hwC1D0', '/dev/snd/pcmC1D0c', '/dev/snd/pcmC1D0p', '/dev/snd/pcmC1D2c', '/dev/snd/controlC0', '/dev/snd/hwC0D0', '/dev/snd/pcmC0D3p', '/dev/snd/seq', '/dev/snd/timer'] failed with exit code 1:
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'iw'
Card0.Amixer.info: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'amixer'
Card0.Amixer.values: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'amixer'
Card1.Amixer.info: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'amixer'
Card1.Amixer.values: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'amixer'
CurrentDmesg:

Date: Mon Sep 8 21:37:52 2014
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=c347e713-9e24-4ff4-aec8-45cc91763877
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-09-09 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.3)
IwConfig:
 eth0 no wireless extensions.

 eth1 no wireless extensions.

 lo no wireless extensions.
MachineType: MSI MS-7721
ProcFB:

ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-35-generic root=UUID=42c89bfe-885c-4c79-bc38-c301f5f9545e ro iommu=soft nomodeset
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.13.0-35-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.13.0-35-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.127.5
RfKill: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'rfkill'
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 03/18/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: V25.3
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: A88XM-E45 (MS-7721)
dmi.board.vendor: MSI
dmi.board.version: 5.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: MSI
dmi.chassis.version: 5.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrV25.3:bd03/18/2014:svnMSI:pnMS-7721:pvr5.0:rvnMSI:rnA88XM-E45(MS-7721):rvr5.0:cvnMSI:ct3:cvr5.0:
dmi.product.name: MS-7721
dmi.product.version: 5.0
dmi.sys.vendor: MSI

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Matt (mdinger-bugzilla)]

Been monitoring 3.12/3.14 commit logs and it doesn't seem that the fix is going to land in the kernel without backports. Apparently they are too old. It seems (from bug 1355044) that they won't backport a fix without a full bisection.

Here Bib reports a bisection range for the ubuntu kernel linux images:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1355044/comments/15

If you intend to complete the bisection, hopefully this link will save you time:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1355044/comments/16

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Yuv, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. Could you please test the latest upstream kernel available from the very top line at the top of the page (not the daily folder) following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested exactly shown as:
kernel-fixed-upstream-3.17-rc4

This can be done by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon next to the word Tags located at the bottom of the bug description.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

[Yuv (yuv)]

Short answer: sorry, Christopher, I cannot bissect on this machine. I have a couple of other machines that are misbehaving after the 14.04 "upgrade" and I will probably file a report against them, with the extra steps.

Longer answer: This is a production critical machine (family storage). When I did the "upgrade", I took a necessary risk, exported (ZFS) all the storage pools, carefully disconnected all hard drives in the pool from the machine, imported a non-critical pool into a working 14.04 machine and made sure 14.04 can mount the pool and access the datasets. Then I went about installing and diagnosing 14.04 on this machine. After determining that the NOMODESET workaround works, I reconnected all hard drives, reimported all pools, and closed the box. I will not reopen the box until the next scheduled hard disks replacement or until an accident happens. I made a note in the server's logbook, so in case I reopen the box I will make sure I have a spare harddrive and some time to test.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]