problem in smbios-utils. some tokens not recognized

[Chris J Arges]

[Impact]
Users of certain Dell PowerEdge hardware that need to query/set BIOS settings on Lucid 10.04 systems.

[Development Fix]
This bug is fixed from 10.10 and onward.

[Stable Fix]
To fix this bug it is suggested that the 10.10 package be backported to 10.04.

[Test Case]
On 10.04 with smbios-utils installed on Dell hardware, run the command:
# smbios-token-ctl -n 'Prompt on Error'

On 10.04 there will be no output.
On 10.10 the same command will output as expected:

[Regression Potential]
This package should be mostly isolated.

--

Description:
smbios-token-ctl is a command that is part of smbios-utils and allows the user to query or manipulate BIOS settings from the command-line. On Dell PowerEdge R610 (and perhaps other models) you can't query or set the "Prompt on Error" BIOS setting with the smbios-token-ctl command using the 10.04 (lucid) version of smbios-utils.

The 10.10 (maverick) version of the package works as expected on the same hardware.

How to reproduce:
On 10.04 with smbios-utils installed on Dell hardware, run the command:
# smbios-token-ctl -n 'Prompt on Error'

On 10.04 there will be no output.
On 10.10 the same command will output as expected:

root@example:~# smbios-token-ctl -n 'Prompt on Error'
================================================================================
Token: 0x024d - Prompt on Error (Enabled)
value: bool = true
Desc: Enabled the BIOS from prompting for F1/F2 on error. BIOS pauses at F1/F2
prompt.
================================================================================
Token: 0x024e - Prompt on Error (Disabled)
value: bool = false
Desc: Disables the BIOS from prompting for F1/F2 on error. BIOS continues to boot as if F1 had been pushed.

[Chris J Arges (arges)]

I was able to backport easily using backportpackage with an addition patch applied.
The debdiff adds the simple fix and changelog entry.

[Chris J Arges (arges)]

Changed my patch to say lucid-backport instead of lucid-proposed in the changelog. Thanks.
Let me know if any additional help is needed.

[Marc Deslauriers (mdeslaur)]

Thanks for reporting this issue.

Backporting a whole new version into a stable release isn't acceptable for a SRU. You need to figure out a minimal patch that will make the Lucid version work properly.

Please see:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates

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