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Ubuntu 17.10 PULLED: Linux OS Breaks Laptop BIOSes, Intel Kernel Driver Fingered

posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday December 26 2017, @08:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the things-that-make-your-laptop-go-BOOM dept.

mrpg writes:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/12/21/ubuntu_lenovo_bios/

Updated Canonical has halted downloads of Ubuntu Linux 17.10, aka Artful Aardvark, from its website after punters complained installing the open-source OS on laptops knackered the machines.

Specifically, the desktop flavor of Artful Aardvark, released in October, has been temporarily pulled – the server builds and other editions remain available. A corrected version of 17.10 for desktops is due to be released soon.

"The download of Ubuntu 17.10 is currently discouraged due to an issue on certain Lenovo laptops," the Linux distro maker noted this week on its desktop download page. "Once fixed this download will be enabled again."

Installing 17.10 on Lenovo Yoga and IdeaPad laptops prevents the motherboard's BIOS from saving its settings, and while the computer will hopefully continue to start up, it potentially stops the machine from booting via USB.

The cockup mainly affects Lenovo computers, although other systems may also fall foul: selected Acer, HP, Toshiba and Dell hardware are said to be hit, too.

A fault report on Canonical's bug tracker tells it all – apparently, Artful Aardvark's Linux kernel includes an Intel SPI driver that was not ready for release

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @08:33AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @08:33AM (#614244)

    The broblem is more Ubuntu than either Linux or Intel, in my eyes. If the driver in question was not ready for release, it probably should have staied in testing rather than being put in stable.
    But then again Ubuntu has no testing, that is a debianite concept, so they just put it in the only place available to them.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @09:48AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @09:48AM (#614251)

    The latest Ubuntu is a rushed out trainwreck. This is completely unsurprising.

    • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @10:06AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @10:06AM (#614252)

      PS: This particular issue has been reported to Ubuntu in October but they apparently chose to ignore it and ship it out anyway.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @05:31PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @05:31PM (#614360)

      The latest Ubuntu is a rushed out trainwreck. This is completely unsurprising.

      We always wait for #.04 LTS.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @11:28AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @11:28AM (#614257)

    The broblem is more Ubuntu than either Linux or Intel, in my eyes./quote?

    Interesting typo! Related to Bromance or Bronies?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @01:39PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 26 2017, @01:39PM (#614277)

      More like touchscreen phone smart keyboard related, when it tries to correct my English against my own native language spelling.