What was intended to fix serious vulnerabilities in Intel chips is leaving users with new problems. Some Ubuntu users have reported on Ubuntu forums and Launchpad bug tracker that they’re finding their Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Xenial Xerus unbootable after installing the Linux kernel update (linux-image-4.4.0-108-generic) containing the Meltdown fix.
Canonical has addressed the problem in an Ubuntu security notice, affected users are advised to switch to the last working kernel version via GRUB. After that, they can remove the buggy kernel update and install new kernel version 4.4.0-109-generic via system update which is working fine according to Canonical.
However, it’s known that the new kernel update is not fixing problems for all users. So, the users still affected can stick to 4.4.0-104-generic.
The news about Ubuntu system going unbootable comes just days after we heard about unbootable AMD systems due to Microsoft’s Meltdown fixes for Windows 10 devices. Microsoft had to temporarily halt the roll-out of Meltdown and Spectre patches.
