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The message [Firmware Bug]: TPM interrupt not working, polling instead is reported when executing "dmesg" on Whitley-based systems - Lenovo ThinkSystem

The message [Firmware Bug]: TPM interrupt not working, polling instead is reported when executing "dmesg" on Whitley-based systems - Lenovo ThinkSystem

The message [Firmware Bug]: TPM interrupt not working, polling instead is reported when executing "dmesg" on Whitley-based systems - Lenovo ThinkSystem

Symptom

The following messages are generated in the /Var/log/dmesg log file when executing the command "dmesg" after installing Red Hat on Whitley-based systems.

tpm_tis MSFT0101:00: 2.0 TPM (device-id 0xFC, rev-id 1)
tpm tpm0: tpm_try_transmit: send(): error -5
tpm tpm0: [Firmware Bug]: TPM interrupt not working, polling instead

(where TPM = Trusted Platform Module)

Affected Configurations

The system may be any of the following Lenovo servers:

  • ThinkSystem SE550 V2, type 7D68, any model
  • ThinkSystem SN550 V2, Type 7Z69, any model
  • ThinkSystem SD630 v2, Type 7D1K, any model
  • ThinkSystem SD650 v2, Type 7D1M, any model
  • ThinkSystem SD650-N V2, Type 7D1N, any model
  • ThinkSystem SR650 V2, Type 7Z72/7Z73, any model
  • ThinkSystem ST650 V2, Type 7Z74/7Z75, any model

This tip is not software specific.

This tip is not option specific.

The system has the symptom described above.

Solution

This is a permanent restriction. There will be no solution.

Workaround

Add a kernel boot parameter.

To temporarily add a boot parameter to a kernel:

  1. Start the system and wait for the GRUB menu to appear (if there is no GRUB menu, press and hold the left Shift key right after starting the system).
  2. Now highlight the kernel to be used, and press the e key. Users should be able to see and edit the commands associated with the highlighted kernel.
  3. Go down to the line starting with Linux and add your parameter tpm_tis.interrupts=0 to its end.
  4. Then press Ctrl + x to boot.

To verify:
After the system is up and running, users can verify the kernel command line with the following command:

# cat /proc/cmdline

Additional Information

This is a common limitation. Whitley-based platforms need to use the interrupt mode of TPM to pass the Windows Hardware Lab Kit (Windows HLK). But the interrupt mode of TPM is still under development by the Linux Kernel Organization. The TPM [firmware bug] messages indicate that the TPM interrupt does not work, in which case the TPM driver falls back to the polling mode. Such messages can be ignored. The TPM functionality still works normally.

Alias Id:102618
Document ID:HT512219
Original Publish Date:05/11/2021
Last Modified Date:08/27/2024