This is the first test that boots the root disk without an initrd. Indeed booting it with debug shows that the kernel detects no hard disks then (in particular not /dev/sda1), thus the boot fails like that.
With 4.4, or with 4.8 and booting with an initrd it detects the sda hard drive again: [ 2.374065] ata1: PATA max MWDMA2 cmd 0x1f0 ctl 0x3f6 bmdma 0xc000 irq 14 [ 2.383381] ata2: PATA max MWDMA2 cmd 0x170 ctl 0x376 bmdma 0xc008 irq 15 [ 2.563557] ata2.01: NODEV after polling detection [ 2.583452] ata1.01: NODEV after polling detection [ 2.600806] ata1.00: ATA-7: QEMU HARDDISK, 2.5+, max UDMA/100 [ 2.617551] ata1.00: 819200 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 [ 2.632337] ata2.00: ATAPI: QEMU DVD-ROM, 2.5+, max UDMA/100 [ 2.649576] ata2.00: configured for MWDMA2 [ 2.662298] ata1.00: configured for MWDMA2 [ 2.671218] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access ATA QEMU HARDDISK 2.5+ PQ: 0 ANSI: 5 I think this is due to this config change: $ grep CONFIG_ATA= config-4.* config-4.4.0-9136-generic:CONFIG_ATA=y config-4.8.0-14-generic:CONFIG_ATA=m Which would by and large mean that it is now impossible to boot without an initrd. I don't think this is desirable, as it could actually lead to regressions on existing machines. ** Summary changed: - 4.8 update breaks systemd's TEST-08-ISSUE-2730 upstream test + 4.8/amd64 dropped CONFIG_ATA=y (breaks systemd's TEST-08-ISSUE-2730 upstream test) ** Summary changed: - 4.8/amd64 dropped CONFIG_ATA=y (breaks systemd's TEST-08-ISSUE-2730 upstream test) + 4.8 dropped CONFIG_ATA=y (breaks systemd's TEST-08-ISSUE-2730 upstream test) -- 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/1626394 Title: 4.8 dropped CONFIG_ATA=y (breaks systemd's TEST-08-ISSUE-2730 upstream test) Status in linux package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Status in systemd package in Ubuntu: In Progress Bug description: Since the kernel upgrade from 4.4 to 4.8 in yakkety, systemd's TEST-08-ISSUE-2730 upstream test now consistently fails with: + timeout --foreground 180 /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 -smp 1 -net none -m 512M -nographic -kernel /boot/vmlinuz-4.8.0-14-generic -drive format=raw,cache=unsafe,file=/var/tmp/systemd-test.4jlHRw/rootdisk.img -append 'root=/dev/sda1 raid=noautodetect loglevel=2 init=/lib/systemd/systemd ro console=ttyS0 selinux=0 systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=no ' warning: TCG doesn't support requested feature: CPUID.01H:ECX.vmx [bit 5] [ 1.491760] Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0) [ 1.492153] CPU: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 4.8.0-14-generic #15-Ubuntu [ 1.492153] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS Ubuntu-1.8.2-1ubuntu1 04/01/2014 [ 1.492153] 0000000000000086 0000000035700369 ffffffffa8b59c24 ffff97201dd45000 [ 1.492153] ffff97201e9afea0 ffffffffa8987431 0000000000000010 ffff97201e9afeb0 [ 1.492153] ffff97201e9afe48 0000000035700369 ffff97201e9afe58 ffff97201e9afeb8 [ 1.492153] Call Trace: [ 1.492153] [<ffffffffa8b59c24>] ? dump_stack+0x5c/0x78 [ 1.492153] [<ffffffffa8987431>] ? panic+0xe4/0x226 [ 1.492153] [<ffffffffa95724f9>] ? mount_block_root+0x284/0x2c0 [ 1.492153] [<ffffffffa957187b>] ? set_debug_rodata+0xc/0xc [ 1.492153] [<ffffffffa957268f>] ? prepare_namespace+0x12b/0x180 [ 1.492153] [<ffffffffa9572161>] ? kernel_init_freeable+0x1dd/0x1ed [ 1.492153] [<ffffffffa8e2c0ea>] ? kernel_init+0xa/0x100 [ 1.492153] [<ffffffffa8e3949f>] ? ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x40 [ 1.492153] [<ffffffffa8e2c0e0>] ? rest_init+0x80/0x80 [ 1.492153] Kernel Offset: 0x27800000 from 0xffffffff81000000 (relocation range: 0xffffffff80000000-0xffffffffbfffffff) [ 1.492153] ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0) qemu-system-x86_64: terminating on signal 15 from pid 8784 This only happens on amd64, i386 and ppc64el are fine. http://autopkgtest.ubuntu.com/packages/systemd/yakkety/amd64 I'll investigate more details, filing this for getting a reference for the britney hint. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1626394/+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