"blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0" with actual floppy drive

Avatar · 04-06-2022, 05:41 PM

Hello forum,

I am running Linux Mint 20.3 Una on a desktop computer equipped with an actual floppy drive. Last week there was a kernel update, which I installed. I believe that's when the error message started (but I could be wrong).

It doesn't seem to interfere with the boot process, and the floppy drive itself seems to work fine and I can access floppy disks with it - I would just like to know why I am getting an error when booting my system and how to clear it, since it doesn't seem to be a problem?

I've Googled, and it seems this error is normally caused by a floppy module being loaded on a system without a floppy drive, and the solution is to remove the unneeded module. Obviously this is not a solution for me, since I do need the module.

This is the error from dmesg along with a few of the lines before and after, in case it matters:

Code:

[    5.260002] kernel: xor: using function: prefetch64-sse (10323.000 MB/sec)
[    5.292131] kernel: Btrfs loaded, crc32c=crc32c-generic
[    5.368043] kernel: blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[    5.368062] kernel: fbcon: Taking over console
[    5.368067] kernel: floppy: error 10 while reading block 0
[    5.368221] kernel: Console: switching to colour frame buffer device 80x30
[    5.845008] kernel: EXT4-fs (sda5): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)

Thanks for any insight.

mrmazda · 04-06-2022, 06:24 PM

IMO, software and OS developers' PCs as a general rule don't have ancient hardware to test with. They depend on users who actually use the ancient hardware to report problems they encounter as bugs. If this happened to me, and I cared whether floppies were still supported, I'd make a report on Mint's bug tracker.

In the mean time, are you actually using the floppy drive regularly? If not, you could disable it, and reboot with it enabled when you actually need it. Try keeping broken.modules=floppy on your Grub linu line, and when you need use of your floppy drive, make a one time removal of it using the E key at the Grub menu. This is just a suggestion, as I don't know if broken.modules=floppy is still supported.

Avatar · 04-06-2022, 09:17 PM

Well, it seems my shiny new Linux Mint 20.3 is already running an out-of-date kernel: 5.4.0 (and the latest is 5.17.1). Is it normal for a distro to be that far behind?

I wasn't sure if filing a bug with Mint or with Kernel.org would be better, since it appears to be a kernel error? I guess I would need to update to the latest before filing a bug...

mrmazda · 04-07-2022, 12:39 AM

Mint is based upon Ubuntu which is based upon Debian. Mint 20 is based upon Ubuntu 20.04, which is an LTS release that features a 5.4.x kernel, which is itself LTS, and that's basically what Mint 20 is using. If you want a recent kernel, an LTS distro isn't the way to get there.

OTOH, users of old machines with floppy drives don't need a latest kernel, only one with security patches, however long ago it may have initially been released. Newer kernels tend to be those that break or lose support for older hardware.

Avatar · 04-07-2022, 10:21 AM

No, I don't want a latest kernel necessarily, but it said on the kernel.org page that if the kernel isn't listed they won't support it, and I have to update to get any support.

https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v5.0...ting-bugs.html
https://www.kernel.org/ (supported kernels)

However, I also read that unless I compiled the kernel myself, not to report it to kernel.org. So, I will post my same question on linuxmint.com and see if anyone knows about it. Thank you!

michaelk · 04-07-2022, 10:54 AM

I added a floppy drive to a virtual machine running debian 11 with a 5.10 kernel and see the same error message. Since a floppy drive is pretty much extinct and since it works I would guess the bug will have zero priority.

I can confirm the error is not present in a 3.x kernel with a VM running CentOS 7.

Avatar · 04-07-2022, 11:05 AM

Thanks for checking that out. So that's interesting - the error message only happens when you added the floppy drive? Huh.

michaelk · 04-07-2022, 11:16 AM

Correct. Without a floppy drive the module does not load, no module no error message.

michaelk · 04-07-2022, 12:28 PM

In addition running debian 10 VM with a 4.x kernel there is also no error.