ARM64 ISO + install has boot console showing on serial port only

[Mate Kukri]

Boot console only shows on serial port. For encrypted installs this means it is not possible to enter passphrase and unlock installation without having access to serial console.

[Ubuntu QA Website (ubuntuqa)]

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu ISO testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/2083919

[Mate Kukri (mkukri)]

I am not sure if this should be release critical, it seems like Noble does the same thing on my VM.

[Michael Hudson-Doyle (mwhudson)]

Unless I'm confused this should be fixed in tools/boot/oracular/ in debian-cd

[Mate Kukri (mkukri)]

https://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/milestones/463/builds/315087/testcases still has this problem partially.

console=tty0 is applied and the console shows when booting the live system from the ISO, but the resulting installation still has the exact same problem, and that's where the passphrase issue occurs.

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

The arm64 desktop live iso still have "console=tty0" like the server images do.
It appears that accessing console causes boot-loop.
Removing console=tty0 as well as quiet and splash manages to boot my x13s to desktop.

Note I have an earlier production / commercial X13s sku, and it does often behave differently to the engineering samples x13s.

Will check what i have on this laptop and complete the wipe and reinstall shortly.

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

Note that console=tty0 is before --- and shouldn't be copied into the installed system.....

[Mate Kukri (mkukri)]

For my VM the installed system also needs console=tty0, otherwise it only asks for the passphrase on the serial port.

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

@cpete @mwhudson @juliank

I think if we want for "console=tty0" to be used for both live & installed system, it has to come after "---"

Currently it is before:

```
smbios --type 1 --get-string 6 --set system_product_version
regexp "ThinkPad X13s.*" "$system_product_version"
if [ $? = 0 ]; then
        cmdline="clk_ignore_unused pd_ignore_unused arm64.nopauth"
        dtb="devicetree /casper/sc8280xp-lenovo-thinkpad-x13s.dtb"
fi

menuentry "Try or Install Ubuntu" {
 set gfxpayload=keep
 linux /casper/vmlinuz console=tty0 $cmdline --- quiet splash
 initrd /casper/initrd
 $dtb
}
```

Also the special x13s args are also before '---' which is probably why nothing works unless one ticks to install 3rd party software, as with those args after '---' they would be copied into installed system as is. But I am not up to date on the rest of integrations if that will help or hinder the experience with/without 3rd party software.

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

(about history on -- and --- you can read at https://bugs.launchpad.net/maas/+bug/1402042 and Boot Console section in https://www.debian.org/releases/bullseye/amd64/ch05s03.en.html)

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

separately pondering if there is kernel or grub/shim missconfiguration that default console is somewhere else. Comparing it with amd64 image now.

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

$ cat ~/Downloads/config-6.11.0-8-generic.arm64.txt | grep CONFIG_CMDLINE
CONFIG_CMDLINE="console=ttyAMA0"
CONFIG_CMDLINE_FROM_BOOTLOADER=y

the console=ttyAMA0 sounds like a workaround for VMs and servers, if a kernel is to be generic it shouldn't assume the type of console in use.

how console setting is set in all images (cloud-images ubuntu-core server.iso desktop.iso) should be evaluated before changing this default in linux kernel config.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

I've updated debian-cd so that the console changes appear after the '---'.

https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-cdimage/debian-cd/+git/ubuntu/commit/?id=77a5ae1239f21df585f91e4af74f73c3d5625c26

[Mate Kukri (mkukri)]

> $ cat ~/Downloads/config-6.11.0-8-generic.arm64.txt | grep CONFIG_CMDLINE
> CONFIG_CMDLINE="console=ttyAMA0"
> CONFIG_CMDLINE_FROM_BOOTLOADER=y

This is definitely not the right configuration for Desktop, and probably questionable for server as well, where a specific server might have a graphical console.

It seems like on AMD64 this is a solved problem where server can do console on both? I am not sure why this is hard-coded here?

[Mate Kukri (mkukri)]

'Fix Released' we like.