No flicker free boot since Ignoring BGRT: invalid version 0 (expected 1)

[shemgp]

On eoan dev here:

Flicker free booting doesn't work since I get:
Ignoring BGRT: invalid version 0 (expected 1)
on dmesg on my Thinkpad x230t i7-3520M (Ivy Bridge).

Second, if I add:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.fastboot=1"
to /etc/default/grub then it doesn't show plymouth but displays the text Ubuntu loading screen and I need to press ALT+F1 so GDM will show up (see video: [1]). If I press escape while it is displaying text Ubuntu loading, it loads plymouth (see video: [2]) and shows the spinner (no lenovo word) and I don't need to press ALT+F1 since GDM shows after plymouth. So I guess there's a bug there, since it should display plymouth and not the Ubuntu loading text and boot directly to GDM.

Now if I patch the kernel:
diff --git a/drivers/firmware/efi/efi-bgrt.c b/drivers/firmware/efi/efi-bgrt.c
index b07c17643210..5754e530af9a 100644
--- a/drivers/firmware/efi/efi-bgrt.c
+++ b/drivers/firmware/efi/efi-bgrt.c
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ void __init efi_bgrt_init(struct acpi_table_header *table)
                return;
        }
        *bgrt = *(struct acpi_table_bgrt *)table;
- if (bgrt->version != 1) {
+ if (bgrt->version != 1 && false) { /* don't check BGRT version */
                pr_notice("Ignoring BGRT: invalid version %u (expected 1)\n",
                       bgrt->version);
                goto out;

And linux-modules and linux-modules-extra is not installed in that kernel, then I have somewhat flicker free boot. It shows the bgrt screen then goes black (probably grub loading), then shows the bgrt screen again with the spinner. Nice! (see video: [3])

So, I guess my Thinkpad is not setting bgrt version properly. So can we have a kernel parameter to disable checking of bgrt version?

Then again, if I install linux-modules and linux-modules-extra then I get the Ubuntu loading text when booting, but if I press esc I get the bgrt screen with spinner. I think it's it's a bug somewhere in the linux-modules package.

[1] https://youtu.be/tAgRf2c7J4A
[2] https://youtu.be/1ystyzLhSaw
[3] https://youtu.be/8AAkUDO2Kt8

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 19.10
Package: linux-image-5.2.0-8-generic (not installed)
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.2.0-8.9+test1-generic 5.2.0
Uname: Linux 5.2.0-8-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu7
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: shemgp 13358 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: GNOME
Date: Tue Jul 30 23:49:49 2019
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=cc5ba738-82e8-404a-9bcc-f1dfed94fce0
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-09-28 (1401 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 15.04 "Vivid Vervet" - Release amd64 (20150422)
MachineType: LENOVO 34361A0
ProcFB: 0 i915drmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.2.0-8-generic root=UUID=da81a856-84d5-4ca7-8c0a-4f20006730bc ro quiet splash i915.fastboot=1 vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-5.2.0-8-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-5.2.0-8-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.181
SourcePackage: linux
StagingDrivers: ashmem_linux
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to eoan on 2019-07-26 (4 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 06/11/2019
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: GCETB4WW (2.74 )
dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Available
dmi.board.name: 34361A0
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Defined
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvrGCETB4WW(2.74):bd06/11/2019:svnLENOVO:pn34361A0:pvrThinkPadX220:rvnLENOVO:rn34361A0:rvrNotDefined:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.family: ThinkPad X220
dmi.product.name: 34361A0
dmi.product.sku: LENOVO_MT_3436
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad X220
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO

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

This change was made by a bot.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Your BIOS data is showing "X220". I guess Lenovo is mixing BIOS images now?...

[shemgp (shemgp)]

I changed the motherboard so that I can have i7. Perhaps the motherboard
that they gave me was for x220, but it fits.

On Fri, Aug 2, 2019, 12:20 PM Daniel van Vugt <email address hidden>
wrote:

> Your BIOS data is showing "X220". I guess Lenovo is mixing BIOS images
> now?...
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1838443
>
> Title:
> No flicker free boot since Ignoring BGRT: invalid version 0 (expected
> 1)
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1838443/+subscriptions
>

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Page 207 of the spec says the BGRT version "must be 1".

https://uefi.org/sites/default/files/resources/ACPI_6_3_final_Jan30.pdf

On the other hand, this means any value other than 1 is meaningless. I think the kernel should just be changed to automatically accept other version numbers. And maybe issue a warning.

[shemgp (shemgp)]

Want me to cook up a patch or a debdiff? If what you said should be done, I think it can be solved by removing the:
                 goto out;
and changing the wording of: Ignoring BGRT: invalid version %u (expected 1)

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

It's not up to me... You'll need to seek guidance and a code review from kernel developers.

[Kai-Heng Feng (kaihengfeng)]

Please raise the issue to <email address hidden>.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

This same issue is mentioned in:

https://wiki.osdev.org/Broken_UEFI_implementations