Thelio-io firmware update fails with permission denied error

[brs17]

Distribution (run cat /etc/os-release):
Pop!_OS 18.04

Issue/Bug Description:
Upon receiving a notification that there is a firmware update available for the thelio-io board, I proceeded with the upgrade and was given an error message that the firmware could not be updated. The logs below describe the issue in greater depth.

system76-firmware-daemon[1214]:   switching to bootloader
system76-firmware-daemon[1214]: Permission denied (os error 13)
system76-firmware-autostart.desktop[2595]: 2019-07-25 07:28:15,367  ERROR  Failed to install Thelio Io firmware
system76-firmware-autostart.desktop[2595]: Traceback (most recent call last):
system76-firmware-autostart.desktop[2595]:   File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/system76driver/firmware.py", line 489, in _run_firmware_updater
system76-firmware-autostart.desktop[2595]:     iface.ThelioIoUpdate(digest)
system76-firmware-autostart.desktop[2595]:   File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/proxies.py", line 145, in __call__
system76-firmware-autostart.desktop[2595]:     **keywords)
system76-firmware-autostart.desktop[2595]:   File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/connection.py", line 651, in call_blocking
system76-firmware-autostart.desktop[2595]:     message, timeout)
system76-firmware-autostart.desktop[2595]: dbus.exceptions.DBusException: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.Failed: Permission denied (os error 13)

[brs17]

This just happened on a thelio-r1. I believe earlier in the week we saw it happen on a thelio-b1.

[brs17]

Upon rebooting, there seems to be no available update anymore. system76-firmware --thelio_io --notification shows that the board is now up-to-date.

[lcbpublic]

Just had this happen on a Thelio Major (AMD) running Pop!_OS 19.04. Attempting the update via the "normal" method (click on the notification, etc.) produces the following error message: "rror in system76-firmware client: calling ThelioIoUpdate method failed: "Permission denied (os error 13)". Attempting the update from a root terminal using 'system76-firmware-cli thelio-io' produces the following output:

root@harry:~# system76-firmware-cli thelio-io
downloading manifest.json
downloading metadata.json
downloading main.hex
Switching devices to bootloader
"/sys/bus/usb/devices/1-12"
revision: ""
switching to bootloader
system76-firmware: failed to update: Permission denied (os error 13)

On reboot I still get the notification that firmware updates are available.

[colinbes]

I am seeing same behavior with Thelio with System76 Thelio I/O board running Ubuntu 18.04

Running cli as sudo also produces same result

[ghost]

Just got this error today. The CLI update method mentioned on the firmware support page didn't help. It ran and did it's thing, but I still see an update.

Also tried:

cfk@thelio:~$ sudo system76-firmware-cli thelio-io
downloading manifest.json
downloading metadata.json
downloading main.hex
Switching devices to bootloader
 "/sys/bus/usb/devices/3-5"
  revision: ""
  switching to bootloader
system76-firmware: failed to update: Permission denied (os error 13)

Distribution (run cat /etc/os-release):

NAME="Pop!_OS"
VERSION="20.10"
ID=pop
ID_LIKE="ubuntu debian"
PRETTY_NAME="Pop!_OS 20.10"
VERSION_ID="20.10"
HOME_URL="https://pop.system76.com"
SUPPORT_URL="https://support.system76.com"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://github.com/pop-os/pop/issues"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://system76.com/privacy"
VERSION_CODENAME=groovy
UBUNTU_CODENAME=groovy
LOGO=distributor-logo-pop-os

This issue hasn't had any movement in over a year and it's the only result when googling the error message. For the other people that were reporting this problem did you find a fix?

[willdrew]

☝️ Likewise

However, I only noticed this after trying mainline kernel v5.10.1 and v5.10.2 (has issues rebooting and fans remain on as well). Not surprisingly, I reverted back to 5.8.0-7630-generic and all is good again with the Thelio I/O version showing up as 1.0.2 ... figured I would share in case anyone else ran into a similar issue.

[ghost]

point_up Likewise

However, I only noticed this after trying mainline kernel v5.10.1 and v5.10.2 (has issues rebooting and fans remain on as well). Not surprisingly, I reverted back to 5.8.0-7630-generic and all is good again with the Thelio I/O version showing up as 1.0.2 ... figured I would share in case anyone else ran into a similar issue.

Thanks for that info. I am also using mainline 5.10 because 5.8 has some issues with my monitor setup. Will just ignore for now.

[markfeathers]

I'm on a Thelio Mira with Fedora 35. It looks like this is an issue here with:
Linux 5.14.11-300.fc35.x86_64 #1 SMP Sun Oct 10 14:36:25 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Fedora 34's 5.12 didn't cause this issue for me.

It looks like this code iterates through all usb devices looking for a manufacturer of System76 / product IO, then checks that device with :1.1 and checks the "revision" file to check the current version. My kernel doesn't have that file, it only has a "version" file in the parent without :1.1:

mark@mark-desktop:/sys/bus/usb/devices/1-5.2$ cat manufacturer 
System76
mark@mark-desktop:/sys/bus/usb/devices/1-5.2$ cat product 
Io
mark@mark-desktop:/sys/bus/usb/devices/1-5.2$ cat revision
cat: revision: No such file or directory
mark@mark-desktop:/sys/bus/usb/devices/1-5.2$ cat version
 1.10
mark@mark-desktop:/sys/bus/usb/devices/1-5.2$ ls 1-5.2\:1.1/
authorized  bAlternateSetting  bInterfaceClass  bInterfaceNumber  bInterfaceProtocol  bInterfaceSubClass  bNumEndpoints  ep_04  ep_83  firmware_node  modalias  power  subsystem  supports_autosuspend  uevent  waiting_for_supplier

Does this need a special kernel driver? I dont have the "bootloader" file it tries to poke next either.

[LiberalArtist]

Just had this happen on a Thelio Major (AMD) running Pop!_OS 19.04. Attempting the update via the "normal" method (click on the notification, etc.) produces the following error message: "rror in system76-firmware client: calling ThelioIoUpdate method failed: "Permission denied (os error 13)". Attempting the update from a root terminal using 'system76-firmware-cli thelio-io' produces the following output:

root@harry:~# system76-firmware-cli thelio-io
downloading manifest.json
downloading metadata.json
downloading main.hex
Switching devices to bootloader
"/sys/bus/usb/devices/1-12"
revision: ""
switching to bootloader
system76-firmware: failed to update: Permission denied (os error 13)

On reboot I still get the notification that firmware updates are available.

I'm having the same error on a Thelio Mira running Debian Bookworm.

[storrence97]

I just had this happen when I updated my Thelio Mira from Fedora 38 to 39. Reinstalling the system76-* packages and rebooting fixed it for me.

[lrvega]

I just had this happen when I updated my Thelio Mira from Fedora 38 to 39. Reinstalling the system76-* packages and rebooting fixed it for me.

I'm running Linux Mint 22. Marking the packages for re-installation and rebooting did not work for me. I had to completely remove the packages, reboot, re-add the ppa, install system-76-driver and reboot. Seems the kernel module is not compiled in a way that works?

Link for the ppa addition/install in case instructions change in the future: https://support.system76.com/articles/system76-driver/