[07:47] Hello! I've encountered my most surprising bug yet. [07:48] I've just setup xubuntu on a zotac PI223, and as I open the software center, the device powers off completely, no warning, no kernel panic nothing [07:48] It seems to be when it begins scanning for firmware updates. [07:49] that's not a good sign [07:49] seatsea_m: that would imply your EFI/BIOS is buggy? [07:50] seatsea_m: have you tried manually updating your EFI/BIOS ? [07:51] Well to begin with, I had to use a 32bit EFI loader to even be able to boot the installer. So logical assumption is, the software center is expecting 64bit EFI [07:51] When in reality, this device's EFI is 32bit [07:51] possibly, though linux has most of the thing needed for different EFI bitness [07:51] although they may have focussed on 32->64 not as much 64->32 [07:52] Which is understandable, but I guess for the time being as this device is just destined to be a Skype machine, I would rather just disable the software center from scanning for firmware [07:53] However I wanted to report this issue anyway, as it's a pretty serious one. [07:54] seatsea_m: btw, did you try updating the EFI manually to the latest and see if the issue is still reproducable? [07:54] I'll have to look into if that's possible for this device [07:55] also, as a sidenote, does the device still have Legacy/CSM mode (given it's 32bit EFI, probablynot)? if so, that may be a better work around... [07:55] seatsea_m: essentially the big question here is, is the kernel doing something wrong, or is it just triggering a bug in EFI [07:55] EFIs in general are fairly buggy [07:56] It doesn't seem to have legacy, I looked around the BIOS options. [07:56] I'm surprised you got xubuntu installed at all to be honest [07:57] Unless it's a weird hybrid bios like my old Asus board that did both legacy and EFI simultaneously (without a toggle). It seems to only support EFI [07:57] Have to agree with you there, didn't expect it to work either [07:57] actually most BIOS/EFI do both simultaneously [07:57] it's not weird at all [07:58] But the installation worked without a hitch other than having to put the 32 EFI loader [07:58] Oh, I assumed the default was to have a toggle to chose either/or [08:00] There does indeed seem to be a bios update tool, [08:01] I will run it [08:02] so all new system simply have EFI... no BIOS [08:02] but they have a bit of code called a CSM, which emulates BIOS APIs [08:03] which is why most EFIs can do both simultaneously [08:03] Noted [08:06] Man I hate BIOS updates, always so worried there will be a power outage or something and brick the device [08:07] in theory most EFI devices should be more robust in that sense [08:07] but yeah, it's not fun regardless [08:07] laptop are less unnerving... since built in UPS :) [08:08] Xubuntu reports this device has a battery, but it definitely doesn't [08:08] Alright, BIOS updated, still crashes the device when I open the software app [08:08] presumably this is a mini-pc? so it probably has laptop grade hardware inside, maybe that includes the battery controller, even if no battery is connected [08:08] Maybe so [08:08] It's a P series [08:09] so the last thing you could try, is setup a netconsole, and then try to crash it [08:09] maybe some relevant kernel message will be captured [08:09] I've never done that before, how do I proceed? [08:09] also, you might want to report this to the fwupd folks, since they might be able to guide you much better in this [08:10] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Netconsole [08:10] I should have know it's on the archwiki [08:10] haha :) [08:10] they do a good job of providing documentation yes :D [08:10] that often mostly distro independant [08:11] btw, to test netconsole, to see if its working, you can plugin a usb drive or something, that usually generates some kernel messages [08:14] seatsea_m: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/fwupd [08:44] pmjdebru1jn: unfortunately, I can't run netconsole, neither of the interfaces on the device support polling, [08:45] ah bummer [08:45] I highly suggest to put this case on the fwupd list [08:45] since this is likely not a xubuntu specific issue [08:46] at worst the Zotac could be blacklisted in fwupd [08:47] Alright, unfortunately this is a device I'm setting up in a business situation, so I won't have much opportunity to debug [08:47] i'd at least mention it on the list [08:47] the flipside is though, depending on what it's used for, maybe a completely different device might be the proper solution [08:48] 32uefi is something that isn't well supported on linux at all [08:48] future major upgrades have a not negligible likelyhood of breaking [08:48] anyhow that's your call, just food for thought [08:50] Well I'll leave the decision up to my boss, meanwhile is there a way I can disable the firmware update checking? [08:51] no clue to be honest [08:52] anyhow when looking for hardware to run linux on, having either legacy support (preferable), or 64bit EFI is not a luxury [09:05] pmjdebru1jn: tried disabling the update feature of gnome-software via dconf but no change [13:58] hello, i managed to install xubuntu on an aspire es1-533 with "sudo ubiquity -b" [14:00] i am having problems getting it to boot [14:01] i followed the instructions here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/862946/unable-to-install-ubuntu-on-acer-aspire-es1-533 [14:02] from a rEFInd live system command line i did [14:02] bcfg boot add 2 fs0:\EFI\ubuntu\grubx64.efi "GRUB Loader" [14:03] it now boots to grub, but not xubuntu [14:04] it boots thru rEFInd, but not the windows boot loader [14:04] any ideas? [14:06] Morning all. Hypothetical question. If I was wanting to tweak Xubuntu for speed... would applications with few or no dependencies that may run in the background be a consideration? === GridCube_ is now known as GridCube