Dell Ubuntu 3551: failure to boot without nolapic option

[Mark Standridge]

This laptop came with Ubuntu 14.04 preinstalled. It is a Dell Inspiron 3551 15" Ubuntu Laptop. A problem was introduced in the linux-image-3.13.0-58-generic kernel update which prevents the laptop from booting unless nolapic is added to the grub boot command. This problem persists in the current latest stable ubuntu kernel linux-image-3.13.0-61-generic. This bug affects a clean, factory restored install. The system passes all of Dell's included hardware diagnostic tests.

Boot fails with:

Kernel Panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! exitcode=0x00000009

The following kernels are able to boot without issue:
linux-image-3.13.0-57-generic
linux-image-3.13.0-55-generic
linux-image-3.13.0-38-generic

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
lsb_release: Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS

Thanks,

Mark Standridge

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: linux-image-3.13.0-61-generic 3.13.0-61.100
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-61.100-generic 3.13.11-ckt22
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-61-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.11
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: mark 2223 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Thu Aug 6 10:24:22 2015
DistributionChannelDescriptor:
 # This is a distribution channel descriptor
 # For more information see http://wiki.ubuntu.com/DistributionChannelDescriptor
 canonical-oem-somerville-trusty-amd64-20140620-0
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=00b41433-b7f7-4ddb-83c4-fca2ea939b57
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-06-18 (48 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 "Trusty" - Build amd64 LIVE Binary 20140620-04:25
MachineType: Dell Inc. Inspiron 3551
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-61-generic root=UUID=a4f79951-02f5-41f5-aa89-e4f77082c51f ro nolapic quiet splash radeon.modeset=0 nouveau.modeset=0 video.use_native_backlight=1 vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.13.0-61-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.13.0-61-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.127.14
SourcePackage: linux
StagingDrivers: rts5139
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 12/05/2014
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A00
dmi.board.name: 0CMF7W
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: Not Specified
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA00:bd12/05/2014:svnDellInc.:pnInspiron3551:pvrA00:rvnDellInc.:rn0CMF7W:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvrNotSpecified:
dmi.product.name: Inspiron 3551
dmi.product.version: A00
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream stable kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v3.13 stable kernel[0].

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, for example it will not boot, please add the tag: 'kernel-unable-to-test-upstream'.
Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.13.11-ckt24-trusty/

[Mark Standridge (mrstandridge)]

I can confirm that this bug is fixed in linux-image-3.13.11-031311ckt24-generic. The kernel boots and all cores function. The oem-audio-hda-daily modules failed to build due to a version check when installing this kernel. I purged oem-audio-hda-daily and dkms then attempted to boot the affected kernels. They still failed to boot. The problem is thus fixed in the upstream stable kernel.

Thanks for your work.

[Mark Standridge (mrstandridge)]

I have discovered one cause of the kernel panic during boot that affects this laptop with linux-image-3.13.0-61-generic and linux-image-3.13.0-58-generic. Within the UEFI BIOS settings is an option called "Battery Charge Configuration." Both kernels boot without issue when "Standard" option is selected but fail to boot when "Primarily AC Use" is selected. This is also the case with linux-image-3.13.0-62-generic from the canonical-kernel-team ppa. Perhaps this information could be of some use to others.

[Mark Standridge (mrstandridge)]

This bug is fixed in the recent 3.13.0-63-generic kernel.

[Mark Standridge (mrstandridge)]

Nevermind, this bug is still present in 3.13.0-63-generic. I was wrong about the bios setting in post #5. The only reliable way to boot a current kernel with working smp is to first boot linux-image-3.13.0-57-generic, then reboot into the latest kernel. Kernels linux-image-3.13.0-62-generic and linux-image-3.13.0-63-generic do run stable once booted, the others I mentioned earlier are unstable if booted. On a related note, I see Dell has stopped offering the Ubuntu Edition of this laptop.

[Mark Standridge (mrstandridge)]

I think I've found the bad commit that introduced this bug, dc487e5b0e9e401e9705dc4c62b9170711c68f77 thermal: step_wise: Revert optimization. I have extensively tested kernels 3.13.0-63 and 3.13.0-64 after this commit is reverted and they boot without issue and run without crashing. Reverting this will expose a bug in the acerhdf fan module preventing fan control on some old netbooks.

diff --git a/drivers/thermal/step_wise.c b/drivers/thermal/step_wise.c
index d89e781..769bfa3 100644
--- a/drivers/thermal/step_wise.c
+++ b/drivers/thermal/step_wise.c
@@ -140,9 +140,6 @@ static void thermal_zone_trip_update(struct thermal_zone_device *tz, int trip)
        old_target = instance->target;
        instance->target = get_target_state(instance, trend, throttle);

- if (old_target == instance->target)
- continue;
-
        /* Activate a passive thermal instance */
        if (old_target == THERMAL_NO_TARGET &&
            instance->target != THERMAL_NO_TARGET)

I have attached the git bisect log.

I am unable to update the BIOS at this time. Updating with the built in GSet BIOS Flash Updater fails with "Dell ID is not matched." and attempting to update under FreeDOS hangs the machine with no error message.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Mark Standridge, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available from the very top line at the top of the page from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/?C=N;O=D (the release names are irrelevant for testing, and please do not test the daily folder)? Install instructions are available at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds . This will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue.

If the latest kernel did not allow you to test to the issue (ex. you couldn't boot into the OS) please make a comment in your report about this, and continue to test the next most recent kernel version until you can test to the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this issue is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon, next to the word Tags, located at the bottom of the report description:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-X.Y-rcZ

Where X, Y, and Z are numbers corresponding to the kernel version.

If the mainline kernel does not fix the issue, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-X.Y-rcZ

Please note, an error to install the kernel does not fit the criteria of kernel-bug-exists-upstream.

Once testing of the latest upstream kernel is complete, please mark this report's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results.

Thank you for your understanding.

[Mark Standridge (mrstandridge)]

I have tested the attached patch against ubuntu kernels 3.13.0-58, 3.13.0-63, 3.13.0-64, and 3.13.0-65 for over a month. Never once has this laptop suffered a kernel panic with the applied patch to reinstate the optimization to stepwise.c. It has never failed to boot. As I said earlier, I found the origin of the regression through a git bisect.

I also have tested the latest upstream kernel, version 4.3.0-040300rc3-generic #201509271225. It has no issue booting. Looking at:

https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/thermal/step_wise.c

I see that the commit which introduces this issue has not been applied upstream. Probably because commit 178c2490b99f898efc06d1ad75cadc84f13021a6 (thermal: step_wise: Revert optimization) is not needed due to 8c8dd64345ba2a8c41556095c7adacb1c8af7c1 ("acerhdf: Use bang-bang thermal governor") fixing the issue for the fan control upstream. So the issue I'm experiencing is not so much fixed upstream, as rather it never existed upstream.

I do have an old Acer Aspire 1410 which uses the acerhdf fan control module if you would like assistance in testing a backport of 8c8dd64345ba2a8c41556095c7adacb1c8af7c1 ("acerhdf: Use bang-bang thermal governor") to 3.13.0.

Ubuntu kernel 3.13.0-65-generic is still unable to reliably boot without a kernel panic.

Thanks

[Mark Standridge (mrstandridge)]

I've updated the BIOS to the latest version A05. The kernel panics on boot persist in the Ubuntu Trusty kernel. 3.13.0-66-generic still often fails to boot. Patched kernels I've built have never failed to boot.

[Mark Standridge (mrstandridge)]

The output of sudo dmidecode -s bios-version && sudo dmidecode -s bios-release-date

A05
09/30/2015