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Topic: cock-up prevented computers with XP SP3 installed rebooting successfully (Read 691 times) |
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Fritz
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cock-up prevented computers with XP SP3 installed rebooting successfully
« on: 2008-05-12 13:06:52 » |
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Just in case the Linux 'covenant' didn't have anything to gloat over today :-)
Fritz
"Long Live OpenVMS"http://www.openvms.org/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/12/windows_xp_sp3_reboots_amd/
Windows XP SP3 blame game begins
AMD feels the heat as Microsoft goes AWOL on fix
By Kelly Fiveash → More by this author
Published Monday 12th May 2008 12:45 GMT
Microsoft has so far failed to provide any plausible solution to Windows XP customers who have seen their PCs crippled by the install of service pack three (SP3).
In the meantime, forums throughout the internet are abuzz with possible workarounds and fixes, while rumours fly that suggest the sizeable blunder only affects some AMD-based machines.
As we reported on Friday, within hours of XP SP3 being released as an automatic update hundreds of complaints flooded into Microsoft’s official Windows forum. Customers grumbled that their computers were suffering spontaneous reboots and system crashes after the service pack installs.
Well-known Windows blogger and ex-Microsoft staffer Jesper Johansson claimed that the problem only affected machines using AMD processors and blamed OEMs – specifically HP and possibly others – for using the same image as the one deployed to Intel-based desktops.
"Because the image for both Intel and AMD is the same all have the intelppm.sys driver installed and running. That driver provides power management on Intel-based computers. On an AMD-based computer, amdk8.sys provides the same functionality," said Johansson.
He reckoned the cock-up prevented computers with SP3 installed rebooting successfully, which in turn meant users couldn't boot into Safe Mode to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, El Reg reader Gary has suggested that the problem is in fact caused by Microsoft failing to provide the adequate amount of updates in its automatic version of the final service pack for XP.
"I have found that the problem does NOT exist if one downloads the 554MB .ISO file and then burns the .ISO to a CD,” he said. “Following that, installation of Windows XP SP3 has no problems EVEN ON AMD PROCESSOR based machines. If one uses the online update to Windows XP SP3 or the 316MB installation file then problems will arise."
Gary told us that he has already updated four AMD based computers in the past few days and had no problems with the service pack because he used the "make CD from .ISO file" method.
We asked Microsoft if it could shed some light on the problems being widely reported by frustrated XP customers, however it refused to provide any comment outside of this official statement.
“Microsoft is aware of these issues and we are investigating them further. We will keep customers informed with our progress. Any customer who experiences a problem with Windows XP SP3 installation should contact Microsoft Customer Support Services.”
We also asked AMD to give us its views on the XP service pack debacle, however, at time of writing it is yet to provide comment. ®
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Fritz
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Re:cock-up prevented computers with XP SP3 installed rebooting successfully
« Reply #1 on: 2008-05-22 16:13:11 » |
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Just to keep the Windows folks smiling .....
Cheers
Fritz
A Black Eye For Debian
by Serdar Yegulalp
News of a massive security hole in the Debian distribution of Linux has
dropped jaws everywhere, mine included. It's the sort of thing that
speaks very badly indeed for the way Debian does code review -- exactly
what's required urgently for open source to work well. The problem
involves Debian's version of the openssl package, which was changed back
in 2006 in such a way that the encryption keys generated by the package
could theoretically be guessed by an attacker. Bad. But what's worse,
every encryption key generated with that edition of openssl since the
change was made -- since 2006 -- now has to be dumped. (Instructions on
how to replace compromised keys are forthcoming.) This is a huge mess,
to put it mildly. Debian's one of the most broadly used distributions
out there, and many other distributions -- Ubuntu, just to name one --
are built from it. And anyone who's built a derivative distribution from
Debian will have almost certainly inherited this problem. The most
staggering thing is that this particular change took upwards of two
years to get flagged, during which time who knows how many potentially
weak encryption keys have been generated and now have to be junked. This
all involves something people who are critical of open source single
out, quite rightfully, as a problem with the process: just because the
code is out there for review doesn't mean it's automatically going to
get looked at. It also has to be looked at in a timely fashion by people
who know what to look for, and who are in a position to do something
about it -- and the changes have to be accepted by the people
responsible for the code. In short, just making source available for
review is barely even the first step toward making open source a viable
methodology. And it says nothing about the people involved -- about how
trustworthy they are, what their work habits or pedigree for code review
are like, and so on. These things don't come automatically. I should
emphasize that if this problem had happened with a closed source
product, there's a fair chance it might only have surfaced in the form
of a key exploit tool for hackers. At least here the problem was
discovered in the right place: in the source itself. But I'm hoping
Debian takes this kind of thing as hard evidence that just being "open"
isn't in and of itself enough. And I also hope this isn't just the tip
of a very pointy iceberg.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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