Bug#1021918: debian-installer: Kernel module blacklisting inconsistent
Package: debian-installer
Version: 20220917
Severity: normal
Tags: d-i
Dear Maintainer,
I recently tried this version with hardware that triggers loading of the
mt7921e kernel module. Loading the module fails due to a firmware file
load error but the installer starts okay. However, the installer later
crashes when probing for network hardware (when it tries to rmmod the
kernel module).
Since the hardware has 2 additional wired NICs that work fine (and I
wanted to do an air-gap install anyway!), I decided to blacklist the
module.
The first issue I ran into was that the documented[1] way to blacklist
kernel modules is no longer correct
[1]: https://www.debian.org/releases/testing/amd64/ch05s03.en.html#module-blacklist
Instead of
mt7921e.blacklist=yes
I had to use
modprobe.blacklist=mt7921e
to prevent the kernel from loading the module (between the boot menu and
starting the installer proper). With the latter appended to the `linux`
line of the boot menu entry, the installation appeared to have completed
without problems.
However, upon booting I saw a pile of ATA bus and I/O errors that made
me suspicious. The disk is brand new and a smartmontools extended test
reports no errors.
I found a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.local.conf file with
blacklist modprobe
Removing that file made the ATA bus and I/O errors go away.
For completeness' sake, the /etc/default/grub file included
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="modprobe.blacklist=mt7921e"
so the offending module is not loaded upon reboot after installation.
Seeing that the kernel boot argument is added correctly to the GRUB
configuration, there is no need to create a file in /etc/modprobe.d/.
In addition, the installation manual needs to be updated to use the
correct syntax.
Hope this helps,
-- System Information:
Debian Release: bookworm/sid
APT prefers unstable
APT policy: (500, 'unstable')
merged-usr: no
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 5.18.0-3-amd64 (SMP w/16 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=C.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=C.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: runit (via /run/runit.stopit)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled
--
Olaf Meeuwissen
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