intel-microcode initramfs-tools hooks mangle initramfs

[aidanjt]

As per summery, I've been trying to get iniitramfs-tools to behave properly on Ubuntu 16.04 for hours and after process of elimination I've found that it's the intel-microcode hooks which are causing problems with update-initramfs, it basically leaves everything else but the microcode update binary and leaves out everything else and causes it to ignore the initramfs compression settings. If you need any more information or logs, please let me know.
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ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: aidan 2491 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: aidan 2491 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: GNOME
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-06-29 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-GNOME 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160421)
MachineType: ASUS All Series
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-21-generic root=UUID=aeb80f06-5142-4baf-bfa4-74439ea85d33 ro rootflags=subvol=@ console=tty1 console=ttyS0 panic=-1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-21.37-generic 4.4.6
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-21-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-21-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.157.1
RfKill:
 0: hci0: Bluetooth
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
Tags: xenial
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-21-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip disk libvirtd lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 10/28/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 3003
dmi.board.asset.tag: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: MAXIMUS VII GENE
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr3003:bd10/28/2015:svnASUS:pnAllSeries:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnMAXIMUSVIIGENE:rvrRev1.xx:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.name: All Series
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUS

[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 1597762

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.

[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[aidanjt (aidanjt)]

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[David McBride (david-mcbride)]

This appears to be intended behaviour. The intel-microcode package is prepending an uncompressed CPIO archive, containing just the microcode for the local processor, in front of the existing compressed initramfs archive.

This is (apparently? in some versions?) supported by the kernel as an input format to allow the microcode update to be applied early in the boot process.

Attempting to unpack the resulting combined image with `cpio` will only show the contents of this first archive, and not the second one appended after it. However, if you run `lsinitramfs` on the archive, it will list the contents of both.