upgrade from 20.10 to 21.04 fails codec can't decode byte

[Richard Kasperski]

update-manager -c
Checking for a new Ubuntu release
Checking for a new Ubuntu release
authenticate 'hirsute.tar.gz' against 'hirsute.tar.gz.gpg'
extracting 'hirsute.tar.gz'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/hirsute", line 8, in <module>
    sys.exit(main())
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeMain.py", line 236, in main
    if app.run():
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeController.py", line 2024, in run
    return self.fullUpgrade()
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeController.py", line 1860, in fullUpgrade
    if not self.doPostInitialUpdate():
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeController.py", line 894, in doPostInitialUpdate
    self.quirks.run("PostInitialUpdate")
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeQuirks.py", line 99, in run
    func()
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeQuirks.py", line 121, in hirsutePostInitialUpdate
    self._test_and_fail_on_apple()
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeQuirks.py", line 375, in _test_and_fail_on_apple
    vendor = self._readDMIVendor()
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeQuirks.py", line 485, in _readDMIVendor
    vendor = f.read()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/codecs.py", line 322, in decode
    (result, consumed) = self._buffer_decode(data, self.errors, final)
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xff in position 0: invalid start byte
Error in sys.excepthook:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/problem_report.py", line 477, in add_to_existing
    self.write(f)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/problem_report.py", line 430, in write
    block = f.read(1048576)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/codecs.py", line 322, in decode
    (result, consumed) = self._buffer_decode(data, self.errors, final)
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0x8b in position 1: invalid start byte

Original exception was:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/hirsute", line 8, in <module>
    sys.exit(main())
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeMain.py", line 236, in main
    if app.run():
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeController.py", line 2024, in run
    return self.fullUpgrade()
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeController.py", line 1860, in fullUpgrade
    if not self.doPostInitialUpdate():
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeController.py", line 894, in doPostInitialUpdate
    self.quirks.run("PostInitialUpdate")
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeQuirks.py", line 99, in run
    func()
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeQuirks.py", line 121, in hirsutePostInitialUpdate
    self._test_and_fail_on_apple()
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeQuirks.py", line 375, in _test_and_fail_on_apple
    vendor = self._readDMIVendor()
  File "/tmp/ubuntu-release-upgrader-eyvhlkbh/DistUpgrade/DistUpgradeQuirks.py", line 485, in _readDMIVendor
    vendor = f.read()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/codecs.py", line 322, in decode
    (result, consumed) = self._buffer_decode(data, self.errors, final)
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xff in position 0: invalid start byte

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Gerco Dries (gercod)]

I'm experiencing this bug on an Intel NUC. I attached "dmidecode -u" output in case it's useful.