Missing mcelog userspace package in bionic - or maybe linux kernel config should disable mcelog_legacy

[Vinson Lee]

There is no mcelog package in bionic.

$ sudo apt install mcelog
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Package mcelog is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source

E: Package 'mcelog' has no installation candidate

[Hans Joachim Desserud (hjd)]

Thanks for reporting.

mcelog was removed from Debian and in turn Ubuntu bionic due to "ROM; obsolete; no kernel support in testing". Please see https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/mcelog/+publishinghistory or https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=889741 for more details.

[Vinson Lee (vlee)]

Ubuntu 18.04 bionic kernel 4.15.0-10 enables support for mcelog.

$ fgrep MCE /boot/config-4.15.0-10-generic
CONFIG_X86_MCE=y
CONFIG_X86_MCELOG_LEGACY=y
CONFIG_X86_MCE_INTEL=y
CONFIG_X86_MCE_AMD=y
CONFIG_X86_MCE_THRESHOLD=y
CONFIG_X86_MCE_INJECT=m
CONFIG_IR_MCE_KBD_DECODER=m
CONFIG_IR_MCEUSB=m
CONFIG_EDAC_DECODE_MCE=m
CONFIG_XEN_MCE_LOG=y

$ file /dev/mcelog
/dev/mcelog: character special (10/227)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[TJ (tj)]

As Vinson said, Ubuntu kernels support MCE and mcelog source builds/works on 18.04.

Package should be manually imported if Debian's removal is permanent.

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

Or maybe MCELOG should be disabled in the Ubuntu kernel config.

[Ubuntu Kernel Bot (ubuntu-kernel-bot)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. While running an Ubuntu kernel (not a mainline or third-party kernel) please enter the following command in a terminal window:

apport-collect 1752251

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.

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Yes, since the Ubuntu kernel still has the mcelog interface endless, the mcelog package could be used in Ubuntu. However, the interface is marked deprecated and the package was subsequently removed from Debian and then Ubuntu. I don't see a reason to reintroduce this package in sru, instead of users migrating to non-deprecated interfaces.

I might be willing to accept an sru if someone felt strongly about it. But for now I don't intend to do any work on this.

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Also if there's use in having this package around it might be worth considering whether it could be packaged as a snap, which doesn't require going through the sru process.

[Daniel Mehrmann (daniel-mehrmann)]

I have a real mce hardware problem and can't view it without such tools! Is there an alternate to mcelog ?

Here are my paints (just to show users need tools:

root@Homer-Mobil:/var/log# cp kern.log.* /tmp
root@Homer-Mobil:/var/log# cd /tmp
root@Homer-Mobil:/tmp# ls -l
insgesamt 1400
-rw------- 1 daniel daniel 0 Jul 18 11:53 config-err-427YPT
-rw------- 1 daniel daniel 579 Jul 18 11:53 dropbox-antifreeze-FaG7tD
-rw-r----- 1 root root 819353 Jul 18 12:08 kern.log.1
-rw-r----- 1 root root 71976 Jul 18 12:08 kern.log.2.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root root 290598 Jul 18 12:08 kern.log.3.gz
-rw-r----- 1 root root 218573 Jul 18 12:08 kern.log.4.gz
drwx------ 2 daniel daniel 4096 Jul 18 11:53 ssh-MVmb1aXusomC
drwx------ 3 root root 4096 Jul 18 11:53 systemd-private-a3571b085332405690c697a16b97a0f2-colord.service-ko1OdP
drwx------ 3 root root 4096 Jul 18 11:53 systemd-private-a3571b085332405690c697a16b97a0f2-rtkit-daemon.service-KZ8HzU
drwx------ 3 root root 4096 Jul 18 11:52 systemd-private-a3571b085332405690c697a16b97a0f2-systemd-resolved.service-mlRf3S
drwx------ 3 root root 4096 Jul 18 11:52 systemd-private-a3571b085332405690c697a16b97a0f2-systemd-timesyncd.service-KQWbRG
root@Homer-Mobil:/tmp# gunzip *.gz
root@Homer-Mobil:/tmp# grep -i "machine check" kern.log.*
kern.log.1:Jul 12 17:06:44 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.028169] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
kern.log.1:Jul 12 17:06:44 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.028174] mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check: 0 Bank 6: ae2000000003110a
kern.log.3:Jun 26 13:54:36 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.028167] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
kern.log.3:Jun 26 13:54:36 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.028171] mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check: 0 Bank 6: ae2000000003110a
kern.log.3:Jun 27 14:11:31 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.028168] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
kern.log.3:Jun 27 14:11:31 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.028173] mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check: 0 Bank 6: ae2000000003110a
kern.log.3:Jun 28 18:09:32 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.028166] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
kern.log.3:Jun 28 18:09:32 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.028171] mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check: 0 Bank 6: ae2000000003110a
kern.log.3:Jun 29 13:38:20 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.032167] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
kern.log.3:Jun 29 13:38:20 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.032172] mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check: 0 Bank 6: ae2000000003110a
kern.log.4:Jun 19 08:48:10 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.028167] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
kern.log.4:Jun 19 08:48:10 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.028172] mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check: 0 Bank 6: ae2000000003110a
kern.log.4:Jun 19 09:09:22 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.032167] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
kern.log.4:Jun 19 09:09:22 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.032172] mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check: 0 Bank 6: ae2000000003110a
kern.log.4:Jun 22 11:30:49 Homer-Mobil kernel: [ 0.032171] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
kern.log.4:Jun 22 11:30:49 Homer-Mobi...

[Tuomas Heino (iheino+ub)]

@#9, Supposedly rasdaemon could handle MCEs on bionic+. Have not yet witnessed it working though, even on hardware that had dozen reports/year shown with mcelog.

[Tapani Tarvainen (ubuntu-tapani)]

As long as there is no working alternative I would like to have mcelog back.
Some tool to get hardware error messages is rather important, I think.

Actually I already built mce from sources (and it works fine), but on general principles it'd be nicer to have it packaged properly.

[Ferry Toth (ftoth)]

Debian removed the package because they disabled kernel support.
Ubuntu removed the package because Debian did, but kept kernel support. Strange.

Nevertheless I took the package from Xenial and installed on Bionic, nothing breaks dependencies.

[Grant Slater (firefishy)]

The mcelog package functionality has been replaced by rasdaemon. Best to focus on rasdaemon.

[Thimo E (thimoe)]

The removal of the package is quite unfortunate since rasdaemon is still missing the email notification feature.