so what grub is doing is correct. It pads/aligns every initrd by 4, which is fine, and as per spec.
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/early-userspace /buffer-format.html initramfs size can be filled with arbitrary amount of "\0" all the way upto initramfs_size. "In human terms, the initramfs buffer contains a collection of compressed and/or uncompressed cpio archives (in the “newc” or “crc” formats); arbitrary amounts zero bytes (for padding) can be added between members." Thus it feels to me that decompress_unlz4.c method in the kernel does not correctly stop decompressing and returning consumed output position (posp). For example, decompress_inflate.c skips over trailer and updates output pos by 8, at the end of successful conversion. Similarly unlzma also updates posp at the end of conversion. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Kernel Packages, which is subscribed to linux in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1835660 Title: initramfs unpacking failed Status in OEM Priority Project: New Status in grub2 package in Ubuntu: Invalid Status in initramfs-tools package in Ubuntu: Invalid Status in linux package in Ubuntu: Triaged Bug description: "initramfs unpacking failed: Decoding failed", message appears on boot up. If I "update-initramfs" using gzip instead of lz, then boot up passes without decoding failed message. --- However, we currently believe that the decoding error reported in dmesg is actually harmless and has no impact on usability on the system. Switching from lz4 to gzip compression, simply papers over the warning, without any benefits, and slows down boot. Kernel should be fixed to correctly parse lz4 compressed initrds, or at least lower the warning, to not be user visible as an error. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/oem-priority/+bug/1835660/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages Post to : kernel-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
