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Meltdown and Spectre Patches Bricking Ubuntu 16.04 Computers (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by msmash on from the things-going-south dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 users who updated to receive the Meltdown and Spectre patches are reporting they are unable to boot their systems and have been forced to roll back to an earlier Linux kernel image. The issues were reported by a large number of users on the Ubuntu forums and Ubuntu's Launchpad bug tracker. Only Ubuntu users running the Xenial 16.04 series appear to be affected.

All users who reported issues said they were unable to boot after upgrading to Ubuntu 16.04 with kernel image 4.4.0-108. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu OS, deployed Linux kernel image 4.4.0-108 as part of a security update for Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 users, yesterday, on January 9. According to Ubuntu Security Notice USN-3522-1 and an Ubuntu Wiki page, this was the update that delivered the Meltdown and Spectre patches.

5 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. Baby out with the bathwater by Lab+Rat+Jason · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It seems that these companies (Microsoft and Ubuntu and others) are forgetting everything about sound software development practices here. They're in such a hurry to deploy patches that they aren't taking the time to fully test them. The cure is worse than the ailment.

    --
    Which has more power: the hammer, or the anvil?
    1. Re:Baby out with the bathwater by king+neckbeard · · Score: 5, Insightful

      To be fair, there is a major security flaw covering the majority of desktop CPUs sold over the last two decades. You are correct that they have not done proper testing, but this is on a ridiculous scale.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  2. Bricked!!?!?! Oh wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "have been forced to roll back to an earlier Linux kernel image."

    So, not actually bricked then...

    WORDS MEAN THINGS!

    1. Re:Bricked!!?!?! Oh wow! by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I would say that if a software hack, or even a simple hardware hack with common tools can fix it, it's not bricked. If you have to get out a JTAG adapter, then it's bricked.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  3. It is *NOT* bricking! by Qbertino · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bricking is the equivalent of applying a killpoke. A software action that makes the hardware henceforth unusable.

    This just screws up the kernel and requires you to set up a fresh one, perhaps reinstalling the core system. On Linux this is usually nothing more than a minor annoyance.

    Again: it's not bricking. Bricking is when a software update or piece of code renders my smartphone not more useful than a brick and irreversibly so.

    Stop using the word just because it's new and describes something significant. It doesn't make your news more interesting, it makes your news false.

    Thank you.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca