Intel 760p and ASPM

[Particle]

I'm not really sure how to submit bugs, especially when they're not probably Debian specific but rather kernel specific.

It has been my experience that Intel 760p NVMe SSDs have a bug with ASPM. Debian's modern kernels (such as the 4.15 in testing) are built with CONFIG_PCIEASPM=y and CONFIG_PCIEASPM_DEFAULT=y. If the root volume is on an Intel 760p, I find that this causes what appears to be a fatal exception during the boot process which results in Debian dropping to busybox.

Setting CONFIG_PCIEASPM_PERFORMANCE=y instead of CONFIG_PCIEASPM_DEFAULT=y bypasses whatever issue exists. I've seen in the kernel commits that there is a bugged disk list that includes at least one Samsung NVMe SSD. It would seem the Intel 760p might need to be added to that list.

In any case, compiling my own kernel with CONFIG_PCIEASPM_PERFORMANCE=y solves the problem. Adding the pcie_aspm=off kernel parameter to GRUB also solves the problem. It would be best if some provision were made to where users of Intel 760p SSDs could run out of the box though.

[4D696B65]

You could file a bug with the kernel team and they in turn can pass it upstream.

Thanks for letting us know about the issue and the solutions you provided.

[stevepusser]

You have to install and use reportbug to submit them to Debian.

You could just open a thread on the Liquorix kernel forum to report it if it also has the same config, as the maintainer is very responsive...or I'll do that, since I'm already registered.

Edit: the Liquorix kernel already has your corrected configuration.

[stevepusser]

We're also going to change the kernel configuration in the MX 17.1 4.15.11 kernel to the "fixed" version you and Liquorix have. Would you be willing to help test it? We're also working on working out some installer bugs with nvme drives.