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Lenovo Ships ThinkBook 15 Gen2 ITL Series Full of UEFI BIOS ACPI Bugs, Releases Half a Dozen BIOS Updates, and Doesn’t Fix the Bugs

Guest post by Ryan, reprinted with permission from the original

For those who wonder what an OEM like Lenovo actually ships in their uEFI firmware, and what Microsoft Windows simply works around and helps them hide, take a gander at the Linux kernel’s log below.



Linux works around the bugs too, but Windows actually hides them from you!



Here’s a Google search from some of LOL NO VO’s other satisfied customers, with their “business grade” solution.



Lenovo’s “support” people in the forums don’t know anything, but they mostly deal with crap like Windows and tell people how to turn it off and back on again.



Here’s an Ubuntu bug and what a Ubuntu developer has to say about at least some of this. (The person in question has a Lenovo Legion Y540-15IRH according to his DMI Decode dump. Which suggests these errors affect more than one of their product lines.)



But they slapped an Ubuntu Certified label on this ThinkBook 15 Gen2 ITL model I use, and other than this damned mess I had to sort out with the AX210 Wifi chip, it’s an okay laptop.



I just wish it wouldn’t shove all of this garbage in my face every time I boot it up. It appears right before the Debian bootsplash, and although LOL NO VO Ubuntu Certified this thing with some sort of Linux 5.6-OEM kernel that Ubuntu 20.04 autodetects, I can’t imagine that it could work very well with that kernel. The Wifi is still touch and go and you have to put it in AC only mode and cherry pick Linux 5.10.70 out of Debian-Proposed (or wait until Debian 11.1 to install it, but you can probably make it work okay until you can cherry pick the newer kernel. Just remember to turn off fast boot in Windows and shut the system down to fully clear the Windows driver out of the chipset’s memory first!).



Now, I will directly quote the Ubuntu developer, Alex Hung:



“There are two types of ACPI errors observed: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS and AE_NOT_FOUND



The former, AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, usually happens



1) when BIOS loads multiple SSDTs (in /sys/firmware/acpi/tables) that contains the objects with the same names (and usually the same functions too). Naming conflicts prevent kernel to load all of them correctly.



2) BIOS’s ACPI methods are not serialized and multiple calls the same methods occur.



I would guess we are seeing scenario 1 here. They are usually harmless because a copy of working SSDT is loaded while duplicated ones are discarded.



The later, AE_NOT_FOUND, is the opposite. This occurs when BIOS does NOT load SSDTs and therefore kernel is not able to get information and perform accordingly.



Neither types of error messages can be fixed without BIOS fixes.



Fortunately, all of the failing ACPI methods are optional, and there are good chances that Linux / Ubuntu will work without them. There are three types of devices *might* be affected according to the error messages:



1. USB (\_SB.PCI0.XHC.RHUB…)- but USB ports and devices should just-work without BIOS code, which are usually for OEM customization.



2. Touchpad (\_SB.PCI0.I2Cx…) – error messages are reported for i2c-2 and i2c-3, but it is likely the touchpad is connected to i2c-1. Please check whether you are experience problems with your touchpad.



3. Switchable graphics (\_SB.PCI0.PEG0…)- but error messages are “AE_ALREADY_EXISTS”. lspci also shows no discrete VGA present on this system, and nothing to worry about.”



In other words:



Lenovo has made a damned mess, but left it there because of reasons, including the fact that operating systems don’t generally use uEFI drivers for anything because operating systems have their own, they perform better, and if I’m remembering the gist of this, once you exit boot services, you can’t use the ones from the system firmware anyway. Everything on this laptop works fine, including the HDMI port. The only exception is the fingerprint scanner built into the power button, but who cares?



Errors for touchpad devices that don’t even exist where it’s printing the error message for? My touchpad works fine. So, whatever I guess. I use a bluetooth mouse anyway.



"Regardless, I think Techrights needs to add this to why uEFI is no good."Switchable (hybrid) graphics errors. I don’t have hybrid graphics on this system. In fact, when laptops usually ship with that, they tend to use an Nvidia “card” for the high performance chip, and I’ve had enough of Nvidia’s proprietary driver for 10 life times already. In fact, there _may_ be a BIOS option regarding hybrid graphics in my firmware setup. I may look there at some point and see if I can shut it up. Lenovo may have just left the setting on/off for laptops they ship like that?



Of course, some people on Gigabyte motherboards, as well as Dell and Acer laptops, seem to have these problems and some that actually affect the operation of the computer. So I guess Lenovo isn’t the absolute worst.



Regardless, I think Techrights needs to add this to why uEFI is no good. These are the same class of problems, and then some, that the buggiest of Legacy PC BIOS systems were known to sometimes have, and we were lied to and told that Microsoft and Intel would clean up that mess with uEFI, and they obviously didn’t. Windows is just the fridge that the equally proverbial cockroaches hide under.



However harmless some of these errors are, in practice, to a person who didn’t know better, they make Linux appear broken when it’s not.



But this behavior isn’t new at Microsoft.



What the user is supposed to do is feel uncomfortable, and when he has bugs, suspect that the problem is [the competitor’s product], and then go buy [our product].

Former Microsoft Senior Vice President Brad Silverberg


Regardless, here’s the eyesore I get to read about on my screen when my system is booting. Thanks, Lenovo.






[ 0.175571] ACPI: Added _OSI(Module Device)
[ 0.175571] ACPI: Added _OSI(Processor Device)
[ 0.175571] ACPI: Added _OSI(3.0 _SCP Extensions)
[ 0.175571] ACPI: Added _OSI(Processor Aggregator Device)
[ 0.175571] ACPI: Added _OSI(Linux-Dell-Video)
[ 0.175571] ACPI: Added _OSI(Linux-Lenovo-NV-HDMI-Audio)
[ 0.175571] ACPI: Added _OSI(Linux-HPI-Hybrid-Graphics)
[ 0.223165] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS01._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223171] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223173] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223174] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS01._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223177] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223178] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223180] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS02._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223183] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223184] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223185] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS02._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223187] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223188] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223190] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS03._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223192] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223194] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223195] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS03._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223197] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223198] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223200] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS04._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223202] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223204] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223205] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS04._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223207] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223208] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223210] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS01._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223212] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223213] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223214] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS01._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223217] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223218] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223337] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS02._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223340] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223341] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223342] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS02._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223344] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223346] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223347] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS03._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223349] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223351] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223352] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS03._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223354] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223355] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223407] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS04._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223409] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223411] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223412] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS04._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223414] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223415] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223417] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS05._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223419] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223421] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223422] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS05._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223424] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223425] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223427] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS06._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223429] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223430] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223431] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS06._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223433] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223435] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223436] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS07._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223438] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223440] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223441] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS07._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223443] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223444] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223446] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS08._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223448] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223450] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223450] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS08._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223453] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223454] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223572] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS09._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223574] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223576] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223577] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS09._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223579] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223580] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223698] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS10._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223700] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223702] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223703] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS10._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223705] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223706] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223824] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS01._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223826] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223827] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223828] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS01._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223830] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223832] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223833] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS02._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223836] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223837] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223838] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS02._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223840] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223842] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223843] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS03._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223845] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223847] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223848] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS03._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223850] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223851] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223853] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS04._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223855] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223856] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223857] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS04._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223859] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223861] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223862] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS05._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223864] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223866] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223867] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS05._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223869] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223870] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223872] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS06._UPC], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223874] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223875] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.223876] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Failure creating named object [_SB.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.SS06._PLD], AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20200925/dswload2-326)
[ 0.223878] ACPI Error: AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.223880] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0014)
[ 0.224477] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [_SB.PC00.I2C0.TPD0], AE_NOT_FOUND (20200925/dswload2-162)
[ 0.224480] ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.224481] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0010)
[ 0.224500] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [_SB.PC00.I2C0.TPL1], AE_NOT_FOUND (20200925/dswload2-162)
[ 0.224502] ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.224503] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0010)
[ 0.225016] ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [_SB.PCI0], AE_NOT_FOUND (20200925/dswload2-162)
[ 0.225018] ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, During name lookup/catalog (20200925/psobject-220)
[ 0.225020] ACPI: Skipping parse of AML opcode: OpcodeName unavailable (0x0010)
[ 0.225234] ACPI: 19 ACPI AML tables successfully acquired and loaded
[ 0.225830] ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, While resolving a named reference package element – ^SPI1.SPFD.CVFD (20200925/dspkginit-438)
[ 0.225833] ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, While resolving a named reference package element – ^SPI1.SPFD.CVFD (20200925/dspkginit-438)
[ 0.225836] ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, While resolving a named reference package element – ^XHCI.RHUB.HS04.VI2C (20200925/dspkginit-438)
[ 0.225845] ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, While resolving a named reference package element – ^XHCI.RHUB.HS04.VI2C (20200925/dspkginit-438)



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GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 20, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, March 20, 2026
Plagiarism in "Linux" Clothing (LLM Slop in linuxiac.com, LinuxTeck.com, and linuxsecurity.com)
The net effect of those slopfarms is very negative
Links 20/03/2026: Facebook Weaponised Politically, Openwashing by LF and NVIDIA, Encyclopedia Britannica Sues Microsoft Proxy for Plagiarism
Links for the day
The EPO's Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) Explains to the Administrative Council (AC) How Bad Things Have Become at Europe's Second-Largest Institution, Biggest Patent Office, and Corruption/Cocaine Hub (Jobs Sold to Friends)
We'll say a bit more tomorrow
IBM's Red Hat Diversity: Only 3 Women (Out of 11 Leaders)
For comparison's sake, the FSF is about 50% female
Symptom of Publishers Dying: They Move to Adopt Slop. Symptom of Software Companies Dying: They Move to Adopt Slop ('Vibe').
It'll always fail. It's hype. It's a bubble.
Under IBM, Red Hat Replaces Code With LLM Slop, Fedora is Slopware
Not even hiding it, those things are in plain sight
Gemini Links 20/03/2026: Depictions of Culture and The Social Smolnet
Links for the day
SimilarWeb Was Never a Reliable Yardstick for Traffic
5RB may need some "house-cleaning"
Strangulation, suffocation, Jonathan Carter & Debian toxic culture confirmed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Reports or Hearsay Suggest Ogilvy Broke Up With IBM and Insiders Report Mass Layoffs in "Infrastructure" (Might Impact Red Hat Entrants)
hearsay in Social Control Media
Scheduled Server Maintenance Tomorrow Night
Starting 9PM
None of the Above (NotA) & Debian snubbing Sruthi Chandran
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 20/03/2026: Cryptography Pioneers Win Turing Award and BMG Sues Anthropic for Copyright Infringement
Links for the day
Even Uganda Understands That Journalists Never Belong in Prison
"Ugandan authorities must respect the spirit of this ruling and abandon any measures that seek to jail Ugandans for the free flow of ideas."
Inaction Helps Your Enemies
Without freedom, there's nothing else left
Windows Down From 99% to ~50% in Republic of Seychelles (République des Seychelles)
Windows fell by a lot
"systemd is essentially a corporate IBM/Redhat project and corporations of course will comply"
Microsoft and IBM care about users' freedom like Cheeto Lump cares about the US Constitution
Confluent Insiders: IBM Laid Over Over 800 at Confluent, Not Just 800
For the record, the layoffs at Confluent won't be over. After the bluewashing there will be "IBM RAs" impacting Confluent folks, aside from PIPs
The Layoffs at IBM Carry on (Shades of Enron)
Is IBM another Enron?
"IBM boss Arvind Krishna... financial package valued at $38 million in calendar 2025 - equivalent to the average collective pay of 765 Big Blue workers."
continues to ruin the company to enrich himself while pretending he has a strategy
Gemini Links 20/03/2026: Digital Identity Bifurcation and a "Return to Gemini"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 19, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, March 19, 2026
SLAPP Censorship - Part 16 Out of 200: Detailing the Actors and Explaining Techrights' Own Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Network
For those who have not followed our story
Microsoft "hiding behind bigger news of war, Epstein, other companies' layoffs"
They know what's coming, they just don't know when
Joerg Jaspert (Debian Account Manager/DAM) personally approved Raphael Hertzog's wife Sophie Brun
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Letter 'A' prohibited by Code of Conduct extremism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Spoiler: Diversity & Debian means different things to different people
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Admits Failures and Criticism of Inaction on SLAPPs
many if not all solicitors and solicitor firms in the UK are in effect unregulated
Archiving or Preserving Pages About IBM Layoffs
Layoffs at IBM and the media does not talk about these
ABC, the American National Broadcaster, "Now Publishes Slop"
If the "big media" absorbs slop, it'll no longer be trusted and therefore not read/watched by the public
Links 19/03/2026: Culling Deepfakes of Artists’ Music and "Age Verification Isn’t the Answer"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/03/2026: "Aktion GPT-4" and "Kill All Descendants"
Links for the day
"AI" 15 Times in Short 'Article' From The Register MS. And The Register MS Got Paid to Publish It.
gets paid to do this
People Who Decided to Boycott Novell Over Its Microsoft Alliance Should Also Boycott Canonical
As an associate put it, "selling out further, due to Microsoft moles inside Canonical"
Links 19/03/2026: "AI Glasses" as Euphemism for Mass Surveillance and ABC (US) Has Begun Publishing Slop as 'News'
Links for the day
The European Patent Office, Europe's Second-Largest Institution, is on Strike Today
Lots more to come
What People Impacted by the Bluewashing Layoffs at IBM Confluent Say (While the Media Says Nothing at All, in Effect Burying the News)
Worse yet, the mainstream media spreads lies about it right now
IBM Has Turned Red Hat and Fedora Into Slop
This is IBM policy
IBM is Being Robbed, Companies and Jobs Are Destroyed
Companies taken over by IBM will be exploited and destroyed to keep a bubble inflated for a little while longer
In Confluent Layoffs, IBM Vapourises a Quarter of Its Workforce (IBM Buys Something That It Destroys Already)
In the past, such things were typically referred to as "media blackout"; now it's just "the norm".
IBM Effect at Confluent: Mass Layoffs and IBM's Business Conduct Guidelines (BCGs) Said to be Violated
For Confluent employees who survived the layoffs there will be "culture chock"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 18, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Links 19/03/2026: LLM Fatigue (It Doesn't Work as Advertised), "Small Web Feeds"
Links for the day