Bug#1102160: upgrade-reports: Bookworm to Trixie [amd64][EFI] initramfs unpacking failed invalid magic at start of compressed archive

[Martin-Éric Racine <martin-eric.racine@iki.fi>]

On Sat, 05 Apr 2025 22:56:46 +0300 =?utf-8?q?Martin-=C3=89ric_Racine?=
<martin-eric.racine@iki.fi> wrote:
> Package: upgrade-reports
> Severity: important
> X-Debbugs-Cc: martin-eric.racine@iki.fi
>
> After upgrading an amd64 host from Bookworm to Trixie (2025-04-05 EEST), on reboot, the host gets a kernel panic with:
>
> initramfs unpacking failed invalid magic at start of compressed archive

I just checked whether I can rescue the host using the Trixie mini.iso
on a USB stick:

Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie) amd64 - netboot mini.iso 20241227

I get the same kernel panic as soon as GRUB loads the kernel.

If I try with the Bookworm mini.iso, the kernel boots just fine and
gets me to the rescue menu.

Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm) amd64 - netboot mini.iso 20230607+deb12u9

However, using the Bookworm rescue mode is a PITA, because it doesn't
know how to mount brtfs sub-volumes (not even with Debian's default
@rootfs) so even just chroot'ing myself in using the above recipe
requires a LOT of command typing inside the rescue mode's shell.

Martin-Éric