iTCO_wdt missing from /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog

[Nathaniel W. Turner]

Binary package hint: module-init-tools

It seems there is an intent to prevent hardware watchdog drivers from automatically loading, as they are not generally useful (and can cause problems) unless managed by some userspace daemon.

As someone who has both used a watchdog driver in the intended manner (and found it quite handy) and on other machines been bitten by rogue watchdog drivers being loaded unintentionally, I find this policy to be quite sound.

The iTCO_wdt kernel module is a driver for the hardware watchdog on certain Intel boards. It is not included in the blacklist, and I've found several reports of it causing problems for users when loaded automatically. It also appears to be causing spurious reboots on one of my own systems.

I humbly ask this driver be added to the default hardware watchdog blacklist.

$ head /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog
# Watchdog drivers should not be loaded automatically, but only if a
# watchdog daemon is installed.

[Nathaniel W. Turner (nturner)]

I'm not sure how to specify this in the bug metadata, but this bug affects both intrepid and jaunty. (I haven't tested karmic.)

[G. Gibson (mistergibson)]

I concur with this assessment as I have encountered my system caught in an endless reboot-loop if iTCO_wdt is not in the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog. Please remedy.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package module-init-tools - 3.10-1

---------------
module-init-tools (3.10-1) karmic; urgency=low

  * New upstream release:
    - Pretty comprehensive ELF handling rewrite.
      LP: #99547, #342255, #370968, #382676, #387081, #399955.
    - depmod can now check module symbol versions.
    - Comprehensive code cleanup.
    - Documentation cleanups.

  * debian/modprobe.d/blacklist-watchdog.conf: Add iTCO_wdt, it8712_wdt,
    it87_wdt, pc87413_wdt, sbc7240_wdt, sch311_wdt, smsc37b787_wdt,
    twl4030_wdt, w83697hf_wdt, w83697ug_wdt & wm8350_wdt. LP: #378328.

 -- Scott James Remnant <email address hidden> Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:10:34 +0100