Bug#1022900: grub-install, efibootmgr etc. not working with new kernel

[Stephan Verbücheln]

Package: src:linux
Version: 6.0.3-1

When I boot with kernel 6.0.x, grub-install, efibootmgr etc. keep
failing. With kernel 5.19.x it works on the same machine with the same
userland.

Hardware: MacBookPro11,1, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4578U CPU @ 3.00GHz



I am not sure if this app is Apple specific. I recommend developers to
test grub-install and efibootmgr on other hardware setups.



grub-install: info: copying `/usr/lib/shim/shimx64.efi.signed' ->
`/boot/efi/EFI/debian/shimx64.efi'.
grub-install: info: copying `/usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi-
signed/grubx64.efi.signed' -> `/boot/efi/EFI/debian/grubx64.efi'.
grub-install: info: copying `/usr/lib/shim/mmx64.efi.signed' ->
`/boot/efi/EFI/debian/mmx64.efi'.
grub-install: info: copying `/usr/lib/shim/fbx64.efi.signed' ->
`/boot/efi/EFI/debian/fbx64.efi'.
grub-install: info: copying `/usr/lib/shim/BOOTX64.CSV' ->
`/boot/efi/EFI/debian/BOOTX64.CSV'.
grub-install: info: copying `/boot/grub/x86_64-efi/load.cfg' ->
`/boot/efi/EFI/debian/grub.cfg'.
grub-install: info: Registering with EFI: distributor = `debian', path
= `\EFI\debian\shimx64.efi', ESP at hostdisk//dev/sda,gpt1.
grub-install: info: executing modprobe efivars 2>/dev/null.
grub-install: info: setting EFI variable Boot0000.
grub-install: warning: Cannot set EFI variable Boot0000.
grub-install: warning: efivarfs_set_variable: writing to fd 6 failed:
Invalid argument.
grub-install: warning: _efi_set_variable_mode: ops->set_variable()
failed: Invalid argument.
grub-install: error: failed to register the EFI boot entry: Invalid
argument.




Regards

[Diederik de Haas]

On Thursday, 27 October 2022 15:56:28 CEST Stephan Verbücheln wrote:
> Version: 6.0.3-1
>
> When I boot with kernel 6.0.x, grub-install, efibootmgr etc. keep
> failing. With kernel 5.19.x it works on the same machine with the same
> userland.

Can you try whether applying the following patch fixes that issue?

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?
h=linux-6.0.y&id=c2a000ad03bb3a0d0f389adcfc9f8c61622da363

That is part of upstream's v6.0.4 tag/release.

[Stephan Verbücheln]

I have installed the package “linux-source”, applied the patch,
compiled and booted it. The patch alone does not appear to fix the
issue. (“efibootmgr -o” still not working.)

Maybe I find time to try vanilla kernel 6.0.5 on the weekend.

Regards
Stephan

[Stephan Verbücheln]

I have now compiled and booted vanilla kernel 6.0.5. “efibootmgr -o” is
not working.

I double-checked that with kernel 5.19.11 (Debian), it is working fine.

Regards

[Diederik de Haas]

Control: found -1 6.0.5-1

Thanks for testing and reporting back. Updating metadata accordingly.

This was the message with which this bug was opened:

On Thursday, 27 October 2022 15:56:28 CEST Stephan Verbücheln wrote:

> When I boot with kernel 6.0.x, grub-install, efibootmgr etc. keep
> failing. With kernel 5.19.x it works on the same machine with the same
> userland.

Adding debia...@l.d.o in the loop as 'grub-install' and 'efibootmgr' are
subjects on which that list has more expertise (I think).

[Stephan Verbücheln]

Some more information:

linux-image-5.19.0-2-amd64/now 5.19.11-1 (not affected)
linux-image-6.0.0-1-amd64/now 6.0.2-1+b1 (affected)
linux-image-6.0.0-2-amd64/unstable,now 6.0.3-1 (affected)
linux-image-6.0.5/now 6.0.5-1 (custom vanilla kernel build, affected)

Other relevant package versions (no recent changes):

efibootmgr/unstable,now 17-1
efivar/unstable,now 37-6
libefivar1/unstable,now 37-6

grub-common/unstable,now 2.06-4
grub-efi-amd64/unstable,now 2.06-4
grub-efi-amd64-bin/unstable,now 2.06-4
grub-efi-amd64-signed/unstable,now 1+2.06+4
grub2-common/unstable,now 2.06-4

Feel free to ask for more information, logs or additional tests.

Regards

[Stephan Verbücheln]

For completeness: The problem persists with the new kernel in Sid.

> 6.0.0-2-amd64 / Debian 6.0.5-1 (2022-10-28) x86_64 GNU/Linux

[Stephan Verbücheln]

Sice the latest vanilla kernel does not work, I have filed an upstream
bug.

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=216640

Regards

[Stephan Verbücheln]

Some updates.

linux-image-6.0.0-2-amd64 6.0.6-2 does not fix the bug.

In the upstream bug, a new set of new patches were mentioned which
should address this issue. I expect them to be merged into version
6.0.7.

New patches regarding EFI:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/efi/efi.git/log/?h=urgent

I will not apply any patches manually but just wait for the coming
releases instead. Anyone who has this issue right now can boot into
kernel 5.19 as a workaround.

Regards

[Stephan Verbücheln]

Update for completeness:

The EFI patches have not made it into 6.0.7. As expected, 6.0.7 from
Debian still has the problem.

New EFI patches have been merged into master on November 4. I hope to
find them in 6.0.8 or 6.1. Then I will test again.

Regards

[Stephan Verbücheln]

Yesterday, kernel 6.0.8 was released with a number of EFI fixes. I have
compiled the vanilla kernel and I am happy to confirm that it solves
the issue.

Regards

[Salvatore Bonaccorso]

Hi Stephan,

Thanks for confirming, 6.0.8-1 will be uploaded soon.

Regards,
Salvatore

[Stephan Verbücheln]

I am happy to confirm that with Linux kernel 6.0.8-1 in Debian Sid, the
issue is fixed.

Regards