Comment 498 for bug 1734147

Thanks Mika,
But with my configuration I can not install the kernel without errors.
I put back to read my previous message # 485

Acer ES1-111-C1ZM
System Bios version V1.13
InsydeH20 Setup Utility

Ubuntu 16.04.03LTS / 32bits / Openbox
kernel 4.4.0.104

I did as indicated #294 the manipulation ukuu to the kernel 4.14.09.
And I have install 4.15.0-041500rc6 with errors (i686?).
I suppose i can't do the installation manipulation of 4.15 if I do not have an amd64 system.

After a lot of tests with other older kernels, without progress, deadlock.
Always not boot device choice, new hard drive not detected, etc..
Does anyone have an idea to work around this problem?

That's why I'm asking for some help. Thanks again.

----- Mail original -----

De: "Mika Westerberg" <email address hidden>
À: "cagole plus" <email address hidden>
Envoyé: Lundi 8 Janvier 2018 20:35:53
Objet: [Bug 1734147] Re: corrupted BIOS due to Intel SPI bug in kernel

#493

You can build your own kernel so that you first apply the patch in the
bug description. Then boot to that custom kernel which should clear the
CMP bit from the serial flash and your BIOS should be functional again.
Let me know if you want instructions how to patch and build a custom
kernel.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1734147

Title:
corrupted BIOS due to Intel SPI bug in kernel

Status in Linux:
Unknown
Status in linux package in Ubuntu:
Fix Committed
Status in linux-hwe-edge source package in Xenial:
Fix Released
Status in linux-oem source package in Xenial:
Fix Released
Status in linux source package in Artful:
Fix Released

Bug description:
An update to linux kernel on Ubuntu 17.10 that enabled the Intel SPI
drivers results in a serial flash that is read only in Intel Broadwell
and Haswell machines with serial flashes with SPI_NOR_HAS_LOCK set.

Symptoms:
* BIOS settings cannot be saved
* USB Boot impossible
* EFI entries read-only.

---

Fix: The issue was fixed in kernel version 4.13.0-21 by configuring
the kernel so it is not compiled with Intel SPI support. But previous
affected machines still suffered from a broken BIOS.

Repair: If you still can boot into Ubuntu, you can recover your BIOS
with the following steps:

1. Boot into Ubuntu
2. Download http://people.canonical.com/~ypwong/lp1734147/linux-image-4.15.0-041500rc6-generic_4.15.0-041500rc6.201712312330+20170103+1_amd64.deb
3. Install the downloaded package:
$ sudo dpkg -i linux-image-4.15.0-041500rc6-generic_4.15.0-041500rc6.201712312330+20170103+1_amd64.deb
4. Make sure the kernel is installed without any error. Once installed, reboot.
5. At grub, choose the newly installed kernel. You can choose the "recovery" mode.
6. Reboot and go to BIOS settings to confirm your BIOS has been recovered.
7. In case your BIOS is not recovered, reboot to the new kernel, then reboot *once again* to the new kernel, do not enter BIOS settings before the reboot. After the second reboot, check BIOS.
8. If your BIOS issue remains, download another kernel from http://people.canonical.com/~ypwong/lp1734147/linux-image-4.15.0-041500rc6-generic_4.15.0-041500rc6.201712312330+clear+debug_amd64.deb, and use dpkg to install it, then repeat steps 4 to 6.

After your BIOS is fixed, the kernel packages you just installed are
no longer needed, you can remove it by running 'sudo dpkg -r linux-
image-4.15.0-041500rc6-generic'.

The patch used to build the linux v4.15 kernel in step 8 can be found
at https://goo.gl/xUKJFR.

---

Test Case: Fix has been verified by our HWE team on affected hardware.

Regression Potential: Minimal, it's unlikely anyone is actually doing
anything which requires this driver.

---

Affected Machines:

Lenovo B40-70
Lenovo B50-70
Lenovo B50-80
Lenovo Flex-3
Lenovo Flex-10
Lenovo G40-30
Lenovo G50-30
Lenovo G50-70
Lenovo G50-80
Lenovo S20-30
Lenovo U31-70
Lenovo Y50-70
Lenovo Y70-70
Lenovo Yoga Thinkpad (20C0)
Lenovo Yoga 2 11" - 20332
Lenovo Z50-70
Lenovo Z51-70
Lenovo ideapad 100-15IBY

Acer Aspire E5-771G
Acer Aspire ES1-111M-C1LE (fixed following your new instruction (thank you))
Acer TravelMate B113
Acer Swift SF314-52 (Fixed by 4.14.9)
Toshiba Satellite S55T-B5233
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1R7
Toshiba Satellite S50-B-13G
Dell Inspiron 15-3531
Mediacom Smartbook 14 Ultra M-SB14UC
Acer Aspire E3-111-C0UM
HP 14-r012la

---

Affected serial flash devices by manufacturer part number, JEDEC ID (SPI_NOR_HAS_LOCK set in drivers/mtd/spi-nor/spi-nor.c)
/* ESMT */
f25l32pa, 0x8c2016
f25l32qa, 0x8c4116
f25l64qa, 0x8c4117
/* GigaDevice */
gd25q16, 0xc84015
gd25q32, 0xc84016
gd25lq32, 0xc86016
gd25q64, 0xc84017
gd25lq64c, 0xc86017
gd25q128, 0xc84018
gd25q256, 0xc84019
/* Winbond */
w25q16dw, 0xef6015
w25q32dw, 0xef6016
w25q64dw, 0xef6017
w25q128fw, 0xef6018

---

Original Description:

Basically on Lenovo Y50-70 after installing Ubuntu 17.10, many users
reported a corrupted BIOS.

It's not possible to save new settings in BIOS anymore and after
rebooting, the system starts with the old settings.

Moreover (and most important) USB booting is not possible anymore
since USB is not recognized. It's very serious, since our machines do
not have a CDROM.

Lenovo forums at the moment are full of topics regading this issue.

Thank you!!

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