Windows Meltdown-Spectre update: Some AMD PC owners post crash reports

[starbuck]

A number of AMD PC users say they can't boot after installing Microsoft's Windows 10 Meltdown-Spectre patch.

 

 

Microsoft's Windows patch for the Meltdown and Spectre attack methods is reportedly causing problems for users with AMD Athlon CPUs.

 

According to a number of complaints on Microsoft's community forum, the problems are appearing on Athlon systems that received the update for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, labelled KB4056892.

 

The initial reporter said after installing the update the PC only displayed the Windows logo and otherwise failed to boot.

The update was delivered through Windows Update.

 

"After several failed boots [it does] a rollback and [then] it shows error 0x800f0845. Unfortunately, it seems it's not easy to disable the automatic updates without gpedit tweaks, so it tries installing and rolling back the update over and over," wrote the reporter.

 

It's not clear how widespread this issue is, but the reporter noted that the CPU involved is "quite pre-historic", specifically the AMD Athlon X2 6000+, which was released a decade ago.

Others who report the same issue are also using older AMD chips.

 

It's also not certain that Microsoft's patches for the Meltdown and Spectre attacks are the actual cause of the problems, given KB4056892 contains much more than these specific security fixes.

 

Microsoft hasn't responded specifically to the reports yet, instead issuing a general statement relating to the Meltdown and Spectre problem.

 

AMD chips aren't vulnerable to the Meltdown attack, but operating system updates could address one of the Spectre attacks it was vulnerable to.

 

AMD said there was a "near zero risk" its chips could be exploited by the second Spectre attack, which required firmware updates from OEMs containing CPU fixes such as Intel's IBRS microcode fix or Google's Retpoline software fix.

 

 

Source:

Windows Meltdown-Spectre update: Some AMD PC owners post crash reports | ZDNet

[Tony D]

One fix creates another mess (once again).

[starbuck]

I just wish that M$ would change the update procedure so that you could choose what updates to install.

This new idea of forced updates is a diabolical idea.

[allheart55 Cindy E]

I don't like the forced updates at all.

I always put them off for as long as I can.

[plodr]

Apparently MS has pulled all the patches for AMD processors.

Source: Microsoft yanks all of this month’s Windows patches for “devices with impacted AMD processors” @ AskWoody

[starbuck]

Microsoft Confirms Windows Performance Hits with Meltdown, Spectre Patches

 

Windows servers will see biggest degradation, as will Windows 7 and 8 client machines, Microsoft said.

[allheart55 Cindy E]

This is going to affect a couple of my older AMD machines.

[plodr]

Intel noted: “Based on our most recent PC benchmarking, we continue to expect that the performance impact should not be significant for average computer users.” And the firm further observed that only specific tasks would really be weighed down, and that wouldn’t include basic computing tasks like checking your email or using a word processor.

Source: More details emerge on how much Meltdown and Spectre patches will slow down your PC | TechRadar

 

I'm looking for the AMD CPU chips mentioned.

[Rustys]

One would think that updates would send a signal stating that this is an AMD and then M$ would not offer the update.