X86/cpu: SGX disabled by BIOS

General Linux Question
21

GPT is certainly comprehensive the way it lists all possible cases
but
it seems to have overlooked the fact that this bug is specific to Margret’s hardware

We dont hear complaints from all over the world about updates causing boot delays.
Therefore it must be a hardware/software interaction.
That limits it to kernel modules, I think?

It is not worth the effort to try and track it further.
Thanks to @Rosika and Margret for an interesting problem

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22

Hi Rosika,

I found this on the internel.

"This message began to appear when you upgraded to kernel 5.13.

SGX stands for “Intel Software Guard eXtensions” and is “a hardware-based isolation and memory encryption mechanism provided by modern Intel® CPUs”. In your BIOS you might find a switch with 2 or 3 possible options:

  • Disable: SGX instructions and resources are not available to applications
  • Enable: SGX instructions and resources are available to applications
  • Software Controlled: SGX can be enabled by software applications asking for it

If the option is not there you might get it through a BIOS upgrade. Otherwise, if you want to get rid of the message, add nosgx to the grub defaults (see How do I add a kernel boot parameter? on how to add a parameter). You can also safely ignore the message, as SGX is benign and not necessary."

I hope it helps.
Howard

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23

Hi @all, :wave:

@callpaul.eu :

you´re welcome, Paul.
In fact it´s me who has to thank you all for your informative input. :heart:

@nevj :

You raise a vaild point here, Neville.
I was also beginning to wonder why there haven´t been reports from other places.

Yes, logic dictates this conclusion.

Thanks, Neville.
However trying to boot from an older kernel didn´t remedy the situation.
So that begs the question:

Can kernel modules be independent of the kernel itself :question:
I.e. “faulty” kernel modules interacting with any kernel version… :thinking: ?

Just wondering…

Great that you consider the topic to be interesting. Thank you. :heart:

@easyt50 :

Thanks a lot, Howard, for the additional info and for prividing the link. :heart:

Alas, Margret´s UEFI doesn´t list anything like that.

The message itself doen´t bother me, to be honest.
Like @nevj said:

Oh, I have to add that due to the excitement regarding the fact that everything worked well again, I forgot to check whether the message
“X86/cpu: SGX disabled by BIOS”
was still there. I may check it next time I am with Margret again. :wink:

Thanks so much to all of you.

Many greetings from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

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24

The modules usually come bundled with the kernel. They have to match.
If you look in /lib/modules
you will see subdirectories for each kernel version.

so, valid point
why did not the earlier kernel fix it?

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25

Thanks for the clarification, Neville. Good to know. :+1:

No idea. It puzzles me too.
Well, I think we won´t be able to solve the riddle easily.

But like you said:

The main thing is the laptop is perfectly usable again - without any additional delay.

Many greetings from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
26

Think we all learn from these real world problems and interesting interactions

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