Ubuntu 16.04 crashes with 4.4.0-108 kernel

[cbraxton]

I just ran an update on my Ubuntu Mate 16.04 system, which updated the kernel to 4.4.0-108. (I don't know if this version has changes to mitigate the recently-discovered Intel security flaws.) What happened afterwards is at boot time is the system locked up hard just as the graphical bootup screen attempts to initialize. The CPU is a Core i5-3570K using built-in graphics.

For now I've had to go back to the 4.4.0-104 kernel. Has anyone else here experienced a similar problem with this update?

[shinephp]

The same issue this morning:
Ubuntu 16.04 after the kernel update from 4.4.0-104 to 4.4.0-108 crashes on boot showing text dump.
Previous kernel version 4.4.0-104 works correctly.
Processor core i5-3570K, GPU GeForce GTX 760/PCIe/SSE2

[cbraxton]

So it seems likely more CPU related than a problem with video. Another small data point, I have an old laptop with AMD "Turion II X2" CPU running Xubuntu 14.04. I just installed the Xenial hardware enablement stack which includes the 4.4.0-108 kernel and it's working with no apparent issues.

[mc4man]

Yeah, that kernel appears to be no good. On one 16.04 install I have the 4.4.0 kernel available, upgraded & it just crashes with a stacktrace.
So use the prior one (-105 here) or the hwe kernel is fine (here at 4.13.0-25-generic #29~16.04.2-Ubuntu

[owise1]

Yep - same here - did update and lockup at boot screen
Intel Nuc Celeron(R) CPU 847 using onboard graphics.

There is bug report - looks like a Meltdown update which is apt given thats what happens


Dave

[djchandler]

I installed to this machine from 16.04.03 disk, so no major updates yet. I stay on the LTS versions. On 4.10.0-42 now. I don't know what the kernel was on the installation disk. A new kernel was downloaded during installation.

You can download a new install disk, Update sources and use it as a source to update your kernel past 4.4.0-108. Go to the Other Software tab of the Software & Updates utility in System Settings after you have mounted the new 16.04.03 (or greater) .iso. You should get prompted to update from the DVD when it mounts also.

I hope this is a better solution for you. Keep your kernel as up-to-date as you are comfortable with. Fixes for the recently announced CPU bugs will go into the latest project first, then backported.

[mossroy2]

Same crash here, with Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3450S CPU and kernel 4.4.0-108
Booting with 4.4.0-104 works

Looks like there is an open bug on launchpad : https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...x/+bug/1742323

flags of my CPU : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf eagerfpu pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm epb tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid fsgsbase smep erms xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts

[vic-0611]

Can anybody confirm if this kernel implements the fix for Meltdown vulnerability?

[mossroy2]

Can anybody confirm if this kernel implements the fix for Meltdown vulnerability?

I can't confirm, but it seems to be the intention of this 4.4.0-108 kernel update : https://usn.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-3522-1/

[ajgreeny]

A newer kernel has just been released, 4.4.0-109, which I have just upgraded to, and will report back in a few minutes if that is working as it should.

I presume this was to overcome the problem of the 4.4.0-108 which also affected me.
Hopefully this will be an end to the saga.

EDIT:
I can confirm that the new 4.4.0-109 kernel is working fine, so if anyone is still trying to get their machine running straight from boot up, simply do your normal update to get the new version, then purge 4.4.0-108, as it seems to be useless for many users, perhaps just Intel CPUs, but I have nothing else to use and see if the 108 version works for some hardware.