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from the damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don't dept.
Computerworld has just posted a story warning that you should immediately hold off installing any of Intel's Meltdown/Spectre microcode fixes.
From Belay That Order: Intel Says you Should NOT Install its Meltdown Firmware Fixes:
The warning, which encompasses just about every Intel processor out there, from all PC manufacturers, takes effect immediately. And there's no indication when it will get fixed.
You know how you're supposed to flash the BIOS or update the UEFI on all of your Intel machines, to guard against Meltdown/Spectre? Well, belay that order, private! Intel just announced that you need to hold off on all of its new patches. No, you can't uninstall them. To use the technical term, if you ran out and applied your Intel PC's latest firmware patch, you're hosed.
In what appears to be a catastrophic curtain call to the "oops" moment that I discussed ten days ago, it now seems that the bright, new firmware versions — which Intel has had six months to patch — have a nasty habit of causing "higher system reboots."
According to executive vice president Navin Shenoy, on the Intel Newsroom site, the current advice is:
We recommend that OEMs, cloud service providers, system manufacturers, software vendors and end users stop deployment of current versions, as they may introduce higher than expected reboots and other unpredictable system behavior.
And that covers just about everybody in the sentient non-ARM universe.
While the affected products site[*] doesn't list individual chips, the breadth of the recall is breathtaking — second-, third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-generation Core processors, Xeon, Atom, and lesser Core i3, i5 and i7 processors — they're all in the bin.
From Intel Root Cause of Reboot Issue Identified; Updated Guidance for Customers and Partners:
As we start the week, I want to provide an update on the reboot issues we reported Jan. 11. We have now identified the root cause for Broadwell and Haswell platforms, and made good progress in developing a solution to address it. Over the weekend, we began rolling out an early version of the updated solution to industry partners for testing, and we will make a final release available once that testing has been completed.
Based on this, we are updating our guidance for customers and partners:
- We recommend that OEMs, cloud service providers, system manufacturers, software vendors and end users stop deployment of current versions, as they may introduce higher than expected reboots and other unpredictable system behavior. For the full list of platforms, see the Intel.com Security Center site.
- We ask that our industry partners focus efforts on testing early versions of the updated solution so we can accelerate its release. We expect to share more details on timing later this week.
- We continue to urge all customers to vigilantly maintain security best practice and for consumers to keep systems up-to-date.
[*] Intel's updated security advisory lists the affected processors:
The following Intel-based platforms are impacted by this issue. Intel may modify this list at a later time. Please check with your system vendor or equipment manufacturer for more information regarding updates for your system.
- Intel® Core™ i3 processor (45nm and 32nm)
- Intel® Core™ i5 processor (45nm and 32nm)
- Intel® Core™ i7 processor (45nm and 32nm)
- Intel® Core™ M processor family (45nm and 32nm)
- 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processors
- 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processors
- 4th generation Intel® Core™ processors
- 5th generation Intel® Core™ processors
- 6th generation Intel® Core™ processors
- 7th generation Intel® Core™ processors
- 8th generation Intel® Core™ processors
- Intel® Core™ X-series Processor Family for Intel® X99 platforms
- Intel® Core™ X-series Processor Family for Intel® X299 platforms
- Intel® Xeon® processor 3400 series
- Intel® Xeon® processor 3600 series
- Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series
- Intel® Xeon® processor 5600 series
- Intel® Xeon® processor 6500 series
- Intel® Xeon® processor 7500 series
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v2 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v3 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v4 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v5 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 v6 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v2 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v3 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v4 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 v2 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 v3 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 v4 Family
- Intel® Xeon® Processor Scalable Family
- Intel® Xeon Phi™ Processor 3200, 5200, 7200 Series
- Intel® Atom™ Processor C Series
- Intel® Atom™ Processor E Series
- Intel® Atom™ Processor A Series
- Intel® Atom™ Processor x3 Series
- Intel® Atom™ Processor Z Series
- Intel® Celeron® Processor J Series
- Intel® Celeron® Processor N Series
- Intel® Pentium® Processor J Series
- Intel® Pentium® Processor N Series
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 22 2018, @10:03PM (14 children)
https://security-center.intel.com/advisory.aspx?intelid=INTEL-SA-00088&languageid=en-fr [intel.com]
Ampersand needed between 00088 and languageid.
The Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 (45nm and 32nm) are the first after Core 2 Duo, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors [wikipedia.org] You probably remember the i7-920, i7-860, and such, from around 2009 (pfft, Nov 2008 launch of first chips makes them 2009). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehalem_(microarchitecture) [wikipedia.org] Next generations are also use the i3, i5 and i7 names (and i9 in some later ones). Nehalem and newer have the Meltdown issue. Basically everything after Nov 2008 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core [wikipedia.org]
But where does Intel say that all those products are recalled? Affected, yes, but recalled? No "recall" in the page.
(Score: 3, Touché) by bob_super on Monday January 22 2018, @10:14PM (9 children)
Fuck it, where's my abacus?
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Monday January 22 2018, @10:36PM (7 children)
It's been recalled: too easy for hackers with local access to start flicking beads back and forth.
A fix is in the works. Please use fingers.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 22 2018, @10:42PM
My finger is too busy waving at Intel. At least one of them...
(Score: 5, Funny) by DECbot on Monday January 22 2018, @11:03PM (3 children)
I'd like to report a bug with your finger counting system. I understand and accept the limitation of the 10 register (finger) system. However, I have an issue obtaining reliable, repeatable results. Whenever subtracting and removing a register (finger) it is impossible to reliably store a value on that register again. Attempting to add the value back to that register results in the finger temporarily holding value, but with even the slightest of bumps, the register falls back on the table, and rests the value of the register to zero. Attempts have been made to apply patches and tape, but these have only been a bandaid solution and not a real fix. While I'd like to say this bug is persistent with all the registers, it has become hard to hold the knife with my left hand, so I've been unable to thoroughly test this on all the registers on my right hand. Please inform me when there is a fix available.
PS:
Feature suggestion: make register subtraction invoke less pain and blood loss. Also, I'd like to request a hexadecimal product variant as it would make it easier to execute my software without having to convert all my integers to a 10-bit equivalent.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday January 22 2018, @11:39PM (1 child)
Ummmm....yesssss.....
....we have recalled your fingers, please detach them by any way possible and return them to ACME FINGER-BANG.
We will send you replacements. In the meantime, please use your toes. Your penis or clitoris can be used to "carry the one".
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Tuesday January 23 2018, @12:12AM
> Your penis or clitoris can be used to "carry the one".
There's gonna be a lot of math errors in obese America.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 23 2018, @08:56AM
333 ty!
(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday January 23 2018, @01:31AM (1 child)
That's incredibly inefficient. If you add toes, you can go twice as fast.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 23 2018, @09:36AM
> If you add toes, you can go twice as fast.
Argh! That compounded the problem! At first it worked and I was adding and subtracting with toes, but I rebooted - it happens daily, I use doors and windows - and entirely lost access to toes! And I cannot repatch - one of the toe-subtractions worked to remove the problematic right-hand finger digits which wouldn't flip off, and post-boot I have no toe access, so I now have access to NO digits, not even toe digits!
At least my laptop is still running with Dragon NaturallySpeaking(tm). As long as the power doesn't go out...
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday January 22 2018, @11:43PM
Melted down long ago, it is just a spectre lingering in your memory now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by martyb on Monday January 22 2018, @10:15PM
Yup, we've got a Heisenbug [wikipedia.org] with the editor interface on the site... sometimes eats ampersands; thanks for calling it out... Fixed! (I hope!)
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by tftp on Monday January 22 2018, @10:27PM (2 children)
First, there is no recall because there is nothing to replace the bad processors with. Second, there is no recall because it will bankrupt Intel. In other words, citizen, eat what you are given and don't forget to pay for it.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 23 2018, @12:31AM (1 child)
Ryzen
(Score: 4, Touché) by requerdanos on Tuesday January 23 2018, @01:53AM
Of course, over in that camp, AMD will replace your spontaneously-segfaulting first-batch Ryzen [phoronix.com]
if you jump through enough hoops.