Illegal instruction with Intel GPU driver

[TwoPlan]

I'm using an Acer Swift 1 laptop (cpu Intel Pentium Silver N6000) with Windows 11 22H2 and latest updates.

Starting any Linux X11 app via WSLg is not possible. The system reports the Intel GPU driver with "Illegal instruction at address 0x7f26b2a00c5c" message to the log.

The issue happens with driver 30.0.101.1994 as well as with latest version 31.0.101.3729/31.0.101.2114 from 10/20/2022.

Reported more details to Microsoft too, please take a look at the Github #877 thread.

Attached is the output from Intel system support utility.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TwoPlan, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

According to the SSU document, the graphics driver version currently installed on your computer is 30.0.101.1994, which is provided by Intel®:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19344/732078/intel-graphics-windows-dch-drivers.html

For this scenario, it is important to mention that Intel® graphics drivers are generic and they might or might not work with your device. Based on that, we always recommend to install the graphics driver provided by the manufacturer of the computer, since that driver was customized by them to work with your specific platform.

I looked on Acer's website and the latest graphics driver version they have available is 27.20.100.9079. Please try a clean installation of that driver following the instructions in the links below:

https://www.acer.com/us-en/support?filter=global_download&search=SF114-34

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057389/graphics.html

We also suggest to get in contact directly with Acer support to make sure the latest BIOS version is currently installed on your machine:

https://www.acer.com/us-en/support

Once you get the chance, please let us know the results.

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Maosheng]

Hi Albert,

I'm experiencing exactly the same issue. `(EE) Illegal instruction at address 0x7fd93a000c5c`  My CPU and device are Intel® Pentium® Silver N6005 Processor running on Intel® NUC 11 Essential Kit - NUC11ATKPE

I downloaded the driver from the manufacturer of the computer, i.e., intel.com.

Please see my post here (from gmsh) for more details, https://github.com/microsoft/wslg/issues/853 .

If you need more logs or dumps, please let me know.

Thanks and regards!

[TwoPlan]

Thanks Albert for your response!

The laptop runs the newest available BIOS 1.13.

The grafic driver from Acer (27.20.100.9079) produces illegal instruction too in X11 apps with WSLg.

Furthermore the Acer driver version has an additional issue: after opening the laptop lid (while in powersave), the screen stays black.

You have to press any key (SHIFT, CTL) to wake him up. This problem was solved with Intels grafic driver 30.0.101.1994, but introduced again with latest version 31.0.101.2114.

[TwoPlan]

Acer Germany released recently a new BIOS 1.14.

Just installed it, but the issue remains.

The last entries from  /mnt/wslg/stderr.log

(EE) 39: /usr/bin/Xwayland (_start+0x25) [0x5645ceeb9265]
(EE)
(EE) Illegal instruction at address 0x7f9b7b600c5c
(EE)
Fatal server error:
(EE) Caught signal 4 (Illegal instruction). Server aborting
(EE)
[15:27:48:593] [10:10] [ERROR][com.freerdp.core.gcc] - Unknown GCC client data block: 0xC00C

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TwoPlan, You are very welcome, thank you very much for sharing those details.

Maosheng, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

In this case, we will do further research on this matter. As soon as I get any updates, I will post all the information on this thread.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Maosheng]

Thanks a lot for looking into it, Albert.

[TwoPlan]

Thank you Albert, 

let me know if I can assist with more log files or testing.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TwoPlan, Maosheng, You are very welcome, I just received an update on this matter.

Yes, actually, we will try to replicate this issue in our Intel® lab. Based on the information provided so far, we are not sure yet if, in fact, the issue is related to the driver. 

Just to confirm: 

Was it working fine before the latest driver update?

If you try an older driver besides 30.0.101.1994, does it work fine or the issue persists? 

Please provide a detailed description of the steps that you followed when the issue is showing in order for us to try to reproduce the problem and confirm if the results are the same for us. Also, please let us know which applications are you using and how are you using those apps.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[TwoPlan]

Didn't test all Intel drivers, but these are my findings so far:

- 27.20.100.9466 does work with WSLg (no illegal instruction!), but has the mentioned black screen issue after wakeup from powersave (when opening laptop lid)

- 30.0.101.1994 solved the powersave wakeup issue, but introduced illegal instruction with WSLg X11 apps

- 31.0.101.2114 illegal instruction is still there and the powersave problem (solved with 1994) is back

---

Please provide a detailed description of the steps that you followed when the issue is showing in order for us to try to reproduce the problem and confirm if the results are the same for us. Also, please let us know which applications are you using and how are you using those apps.

---

Install WSLg with Ubuntu 22.04.1 from Microsoft store and run any X11 app i.e.:

- sudo apt install gparted

- sudo gparted

Now error message ".. cannot open display: :0" in terminal and gparted didn't start.

At the end of the logfile  /mnt/wslg/stderr.log is the "illegal instruction" message.

You find additional infos at Microsoft GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/wslg/issues/877

WSLg = Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

[TwoPlan]

Didn't test all Intel grafic drivers, but these are my findings so far:

- 27.20.100.9466: X11 apps with WSLg are running (no illegal instruction), but the mentioned black screen issue after returing from powersave is happening

- 30.0.101.1994: black screen after powersave is fixed, but now illegal instruction with WSLg X11 apps

- 31.0.101.2114: still illegal instruction with WSLg and black screen problem (fixed with 1994!) again

Steps to reproduce (Windows 11 22H2)
Install WSLg with Ubuntu 22.04.1 from Microsoft store and run any Linux X11 gui app. I.e.
- sudo apt install gparted
- sudo gparted
There is message ".. cannot open display: :0" in terminal and gparted didn't start. Instead an illegal instruction is logged to /mnt/wslg/stderr.log

(EE) 39: /usr/bin/Xwayland (_start+0x25) [0x556f52a74265]
(EE)
(EE) Illegal instruction at address 0x7f26b2a00c5c
(EE)
Fatal server error:
(EE) Caught signal 4 (Illegal instruction). Server aborting
(EE)
[11:51:56:429] [10:10] [ERROR][com.freerdp.core.gcc] - Unknown GCC client data block: 0xC00C

[TwoPlan]

Didn't test all Intel grafic drivers, but these are my findings so far:

- 27.20.100.9466: X11 apps with WSLg are running (no illegal instruction), but the mentioned black screen issue after returing from powersave is happening

- 30.0.101.1994: black screen after powersave is fixed, but now illegal instruction with WSLg X11 apps

- 31.0.101.2114: still illegal instruction with WSLg and black screen problem (fixed with 1994!) again

Steps to reproduce (Windows 11 22H2)
Install WSLg with Ubuntu 22.04.1 from Microsoft store and run any Linux X11 gui app. I.e.
- sudo apt install gparted
- sudo gparted
There is message ".. cannot open display: :0" in terminal and gparted didn't start. Instead an illegal instruction is logged to /mnt/wslg/stderr.log

(EE) 39: /usr/bin/Xwayland (_start+0x25) [0x556f52a74265]
(EE)
(EE) Illegal instruction at address 0x7f26b2a00c5c
(EE)
Fatal server error:
(EE) Caught signal 4 (Illegal instruction). Server aborting
(EE)
[11:51:56:429] [10:10] [ERROR][com.freerdp.core.gcc] - Unknown GCC client data block: 0xC00C

[TwoPlan]

Didn't test all Intel grafic drivers, but these are my findings so far:

- 27.20.100.9466: X11 apps with WSLg are running (no illegal instruction), but the mentioned black screen issue after returing from powersave is happening

- 30.0.101.1994: black screen after powersave is fixed, but now illegal instruction with WSLg X11 apps

- 31.0.101.2114: still illegal instruction with WSLg and black screen problem (fixed with 1994!) again

Steps to reproduce (Windows 11 22H2)
Install WSLg with Ubuntu 22.04.1 from Microsoft store and run any Linux X11 gui app. I.e.
- sudo apt install gparted
- sudo gparted
There is message ".. cannot open display: :0" in terminal and gparted didn't start. Instead an illegal instruction is logged to /mnt/wslg/stderr.log

[Alberto_R_Intel]

TwoPlan, Thank you very much for letting us know those results.

We will continue with our research on this matter. Once I get any updates, I will post all of them on this thread.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello TwoPlan, I just received an update on this matter.

After trying to duplicate the problem in our Intel® lab, the issue was not replicated. Based on that, it seems this is something that is actually related to your system itself and not our drivers. Please check the videos attached to this post.

So, what we recommend next, will be to get in contact directly with Acer Support to report this issue, to check if they can perform a physical inspection of the device, and for further assistance on this matter. Warranty options might be needed and they will also be able to help you in that regard:

https://www.acer.com/us-en/support

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[TwoPlan]

The results from the attached files are very strange!

1. Screenshot: your lab tried to install driver 27.20.100.9466 and got the message "The operation system is not supported".

This is impossible for my system. Because the Acer laptop is originally delivered with Windows 11 and Intel driver version 27.20.100.9079. The later driver 27.20.100.9466 installs and runs well here (except the black screen issue).

2. Video: running with driver 31.0.101.3790. Afaik this version is for Intel Core i systems only, and does not install on a Pentium Silver!

My conclusion is, your lab didn't test this issue on a Intel Pentium Silver N6000 system!

Please ask the lab for testing on suited hardware again.

Thank You.

[CrazyDav88]

Hi Alberto, thank you for looking into this.

I wanted to add that I have the same experience on the HP Tablet 11, which also has an N6000. In brief, the OEM drivers do not support wslg, and if I install a newer driver from Intel (as recommended by Microsoft), the system will freeze on resume from sleep.

I believe all of this is how a beta software release from Microsoft should work - it's identifying issues in drivers that OEMs haven't yet released to end-users, but which have been built by Intel. Presumably, Intel could fix the driver so that the N6000 continues to function with wake from sleep and ALSO supports the needed features for WSLg?

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello TwoPlan, Thank you very much for your response.

Sure, I will provide the details you just described and we will continue working on this scenario. As soon as I get more information, I will post all the updates on this thread.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Maosheng]

Hi Alberto,

Thanks for your test results. May I ask you a favor to test it with the Intel® NUC 11 Essential Kit - NUC11ATKPE , whose CPU model is Intel® Pentium® Silver N6005 Processor , which could 100% reproduce the error from the driver about `Illegal instruction at address 0x7f26b2a00c5c` on my side.

Thanks and Regards,

Maosheng

[Jean_Intel]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for waiting for a response.

It is important to mention that as of July 27th, 2022, Intel moved 6th - 10th Gen Intel Processor Graphics and related Intel Atom®️, Pentium®️, and Celeron®️ processor graphics to a legacy software support model. Intel will provide software support for affected products on critical fixes and security vulnerabilities only. Software updates for these products will move to a quarterly release cadence or with software releases as needed.

The following product families are impacted by this transition: 

Codenames: Skylake, Apollo Lake, Kaby Lake, Amber Lake, Coffee Lake, Whiskey Lake, Comet Lake, Gemini Lake, Ice Lake, Lakefield, Jasper Lake, Elkhart Lake.

With that being said, we weren't able to reproduce on the latest systems and you are running on a Jasper Lake, which is currently in a legacy support model. Unless we can get a critical need regarding the issue with severe business or security impact, you should direct back to the Linux forums for further support.

For further information, you can check our article "Graphics Driver Support Update for 10th Generation and Older Intel Processor Graphics."

Best regards, 

Jean O.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[TwoPlan]

Hello Intel,

thanks for your response.

Several customers complained about issues with different Intel grafic driver versions while running Windows 11 on 2021/2022 Jasper Lake systems.

• some Intel grafic drivers allow WSLg to run, but with most an "illegal instruction" is caused by the driver
• some Intel grafic drivers have no problem after returning from powersave, but with most of them the laptop hangs at a "black screen"

Just for the record, Intel decided that, functional issues on Pentium Silver N600x cpu (released in 2021) and the mentioned Intel NUC system (released in 2022), will not be fixed. Only if they are business or security related.

Intel Customer Support Technician advise is to look in "Linux forums for further support"

---

@Jean_Intel wrote:
..

Intel will provide software support for affected products on critical fixes and security vulnerabilities only.

..

Unless we can get a critical need regarding the issue with severe business or security impact, you should direct back to the Linux forums for further support.

---

Please let me kindly ask Intel to fix both issues in a single Intel grafic driver for Windows 11 and N600x.

For us it is a critical need. In which universe could we get help from Linux forums, when Intel grafic driver fails on Windows 11?