failed to load file amd-ucode/microcode_amd_fam16h.bin

[brianM]

This message appears when booting saucy on a HP 15e010ax laptop with A6-5200 cpu. Same message in Raring.

The package "amd64-microcode 1.20120910-3" appears in the standard repositories but appears to be outdated and requires the removal of major current packages.

Not sure if this message just means that this file is not available yet as there are no valid updates but if so the message should be removed. My observation is linux runs slowly on this hardware (compared to W8) and there probably should be some firmware updates

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
Package: linux-image-3.11.0-13-generic 3.11.0-13.20
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-13.20-generic 3.11.6
Uname: Linux 3.11.0-13-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: fglrx
ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: brian 1669 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: brian 1669 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA:
 country AU:
  (2402 - 2482 @ 40), (N/A, 20)
  (5170 - 5250 @ 40), (3, 23)
  (5250 - 5330 @ 40), (3, 23), DFS
  (5735 - 5835 @ 40), (3, 30)
Date: Wed Nov 20 12:36:41 2013
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=65f788a6-7233-444f-b4c2-a6bb0332fd80
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-10-30 (20 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Release amd64 (20131016.1)
MachineType: Hewlett-Packard HP Pavilion 15 Notebook PC
MarkForUpload: True
ProcFB: 0 EFI VGA
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.11.0-13-generic root=UUID=5d0db004-8555-4dc9-ab8b-abf05b6a3452 ro quiet splash
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.11.0-13-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.11.0-13-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.116
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 09/27/2013
dmi.bios.vendor: Insyde
dmi.bios.version: F.22
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: 213A
dmi.board.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.board.version: 02.12
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Chassis Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Hewlett-Packard
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnInsyde:bvrF.22:bd09/27/2013:svnHewlett-Packard:pnHPPavilion15NotebookPC:pvr0884100000305A10000620100:rvnHewlett-Packard:rn213A:rvr02.12:cvnHewlett-Packard:ct10:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: HP Pavilion 15 Notebook PC
dmi.product.version: 0884100000305A10000620100
dmi.sys.vendor: Hewlett-Packard

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[asq (asq-mailbox)]

found also on 12.04.03 LTS, from syslog:

Dec 23 08:36:29 [...] kernel: [ 4.026120] microcode: CPU0: patch_level=0x07000106
Dec 23 08:36:29 [...] kernel: [ 4.687040] ppdev: user-space parallel port driver
Dec 23 08:36:29 [...] kernel: [ 4.756682] microcode: failed to load file amd-ucode/microcode_amd_fam16h.bin
Dec 23 08:36:29 [...] kernel: [ 4.756764] microcode: CPU1: patch_level=0x07000106
Dec 23 08:36:29 [...] kernel: [ 4.757620] microcode: Microcode Update Driver: v2.00 <email address hidden>, Peter Oruba

even after $sudo apt-get install linux-firmware

[Daniel Letzeisen (dtl131)]

The file in question (microcode_amd_fam16h.bin) does not exist at the time of this post. AMD has not released any microcode patch file for that CPU family. http://www.amd64.org/microcode.html

The amd64-microcode package (not linux-firmware) would contain this file if it existed.

As far as what's spitting out the false alarm error message, that would be the microcode patching feature of the kernel. As of kernel 3.13, the error message has been changed to a debug message so users won't have to see it: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/11f918d3e2d3861b6931e97b3aa778e4984935aa

The 3.13 kernel should be landing in Ubuntu 14.04/ Trusty by February 1, 2014, and there are 3.13.x release candidates currently available here: http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/