efibootmgr Kernel panic with UEFI ASUS motherboards

[Tarek]

Ubuntu: 11.10 oneiric
Package: grub-efi 1.99-12ubuntu5

While installing Ubuntu on my Asus 1215b using a Live USB, A kernel panic was being issued and Ubuntu wouldn't boot. After trying to install manually (issuing a grub-install command), the same problem occurred. My partitions are as follow: a 100MB FAT32 efi partition on /dev/sda1, a 2GB swap on /dev/sda2, a 100GB ext4 partition for / (boot) and an ext4 partition for /home with what's left.

Steps to reproduce:

follow the guide here http://askubuntu.com/questions/53578/can-i-install-in-uefi-mode-with-the-alternate-installer/57380#57380 and execute grub-install using this command:

sudo grub-install --recheck --no-floppy --force

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Gleb Peregud (gleber-p)]

The same problem affects me. In fact this seems to be an error in kernel itself. And it can be triggered just by running any efibootmgr command. More details are here:

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=129331

and

https://lkml.org/lkml/2012/1/1/2

I can provide any additional information if needed.

[gaelfx (gaelfx)]

I had troubles like this with my 1225b (almost the same hardware), and the problem was that when I booted from the USB, I selected EFI:(device name) rather than just the USB. If you select the USB device sans the EFI prefix, it should work fine.

[alex behrman (behrman-alex)]

Had same problem; seemed to be due to creation of a (uefi) usb startup disk using unetbootin on a mac. I solved it by selecting "try ubuntu" (not install), and then from using firefox to download the amd64 12.04 iso and using ubuntu startup disk creator to create a second usb startup/install flash disk. Reboot with this new second flash disk, hit escape, select the non-uefi flash drive to boot with.. and install ubuntu (I selected the erase all previous partitions option). Presto!

[Dr Paul Brewer (drpaulbrewer)]

Similar problems with ASUS1215B with Ubuntu Studio 13.10Beta2 and Ubuntu 13.10Beta2

I managed to get an install of Ubuntu13.10Beta2 running by using the USB stick to get a GRUB prompt, then entering command mode and doing "source (hd0,1)... grub.cfg" where ... was a path leading to the grub.cfg installed on HD.

Running either boot-repair or efibootmgr (as described in http://superuser.com/questions/376470/how-to-reinstall-grub2-efi/376471#376471) causes an immediate message "Killed" which, if one looks in dmesg, turns out to be a kernel oops similar to that reported here.

Ubuntu Studio 12.04 was previously installed fine and this problem is reportedly older than that (11.10), so I am puzzled. There once was a windows installation but it was deleted some time ago and Ubuntu Studio 12 was wiped when installing 13.

[Michael Murphy (mmstick)]

I have this happening with Xubuntu 13.10 on my ASUS Sabertooth 990FX.
It doesn't happen on Ubuntu 14.04's installation disc.
I'm not 100% certain if it also happens on Ubuntu 13.04.
However, I also cannot get my Sabertooth 990FX to boot into either Ubuntu 13.10 or Ubuntu 14.04 because of this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-firmware/+bug/1250321

[Michael Murphy (mmstick)]

From what I know, this error is not caused by the kernel itself. I can run Ubuntu 13.04 with any Linux kernel from 3.8 to 3.12 and it works/installs perfectly. However, something changed in Ubuntu 13.10 to cause this error.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Michael Murphy (mmstick)]

Seems I get this error on Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS and Ubuntu 13.10. However, I do not see this error with Ubuntu 13.04 and Ubuntu 14.04. However, Ubuntu 14.04 also refuses to boot with ASUS UEFI motherboards.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 879858

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Dr Paul Brewer (drpaulbrewer)]

Apparently Resolved by 14.04

14.04 installed normally on asus-1215b

On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 5:30 PM, Brad Figg <email address hidden> wrote:

> This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem.
> >From a terminal window please run:
>
> apport-collect 879858
>
> and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.
>
> If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable
> to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change
> the bug status to 'Confirmed'.
>
> This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the
> Ubuntu Kernel Team.
>
> ** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to a
> duplicate bug report (1236170).
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/879858
>
> Title:
> efibootmgr Kernel panic with UEFI ASUS motherboards
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/efibootmgr/+bug/879858/+subscriptions
>

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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