Public bug reported:
Hardware: ASUS ExpertBook B5404CVA (board B5404CVA)
BIOS: B5404CVA.306, 06/08/2026 (latest available)
GPU: Intel Raptor Lake-P UHD Graphics only (no discrete GPU)
Distro: Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS
Last working kernel: 6.11.0-19-generic (Ubuntu HWE)
First broken kernel: 7.0.0-34-generic (Ubuntu 7.0.0-34.34~24.04.1-generic
7.0.14)
Earlier kernels between these two (6.14, 6.17) were installed but not
tested individually for this issue.
Problem
-------
On 7.0 the asus-nb-wmi driver fails to probe. As a result there is no
asus::kbd_backlight LED device (keyboard backlight cannot be controlled),
no "Asus WMI hotkeys" input device, and no platform/thermal profile
support. On 6.11 all of these work.
The failure happens while asus_wmi sets the default throttle thermal
policy during probe. The firmware's ATKD.FANL method references a
symbol NPCF that does not exist on this model (NPCF is usually the
NVIDIA platform controller; this machine has no NVIDIA GPU), so the
WMI call returns an error and the whole probe is aborted.
dmesg on 7.0.0-34:
asus_wmi: ASUS WMI generic driver loaded
asus_armoury: No matching power limits found for this system
asus_wmi: Initialization: 0x1
asus_wmi: SFUN value: 0x21
asus-nb-wmi asus-nb-wmi: Detected ATK, not ASUSWMI, use DSTS
ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.ATKD.FANL.NPCF],
AE_NOT_FOUND (20251212/psargs-332)
ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.ATKD.FANL due to previous error
(AE_NOT_FOUND) (20251212/psparse-529)
ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.ATKD.WMNB due to previous error
(AE_NOT_FOUND) (20251212/psparse-529)
asus_wmi: Failed to set throttle thermal policy: -5
asus_wmi: Failed to set default thermal profile
asus-nb-wmi asus-nb-wmi: probe with driver asus-nb-wmi failed with error -5
dmesg on 6.11.0-19 (same machine, same BIOS):
asus_wmi: ASUS WMI generic driver loaded
asus_wmi: Initialization: 0x1
asus_wmi: SFUN value: 0x21
asus-nb-wmi asus-nb-wmi: Detected ATK, not ASUSWMI, use DSTS
input: Asus WMI hotkeys as /devices/platform/asus-nb-wmi/input/input9
asus_wmi: using asus-wmi for asus::kbd_backlight
Expected behaviour
------------------
A failure to set the default thermal profile should not be fatal to
the probe. The driver should log a warning and continue, so the
keyboard backlight and hotkeys remain functional, as on 6.11.
Workaround
----------
Booting 6.11.0-19-generic. No module parameter was found to skip the
thermal profile initialisation.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: linux-image-7.0.0-34-generic 7.0.0-34.34~24.04.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 7.0.0-34.34~24.04.1-generic 7.0.14
Uname: Linux 7.0.0-34-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.28.3-0ubuntu0.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0: fruzsi 1848 F.... pipewire
fruzsi 1851 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/seq: fruzsi 1848 F.... pipewire
CRDA: N/A
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
Date: Mon Sep 28 13:07:58 2026
InstallationDate: Installed on 2024-10-17 (711 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64 (20240424)
MachineType: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. ASUS EXPERTBOOK B5404CVA_B5404CVA
ProcFB: 0 i915drmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-7.0.0-34-generic
root=/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
PulseList: Error: command ['pacmd', 'list'] failed with exit code 1: No
PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
RelatedPackageVersions:
linux-restricted-modules-7.0.0-34-generic N/A
linux-backports-modules-7.0.0-34-generic N/A
linux-firmware 20240318.git3b128b60.0ubuntu3.1
SourcePackage: linux-hwe-7.0
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 06/08/2026
dmi.bios.release: 3.6
dmi.bios.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. (Licensed by AMI, LLC.)
dmi.bios.version: B5404CVA.306
dmi.board.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.board.name: B5404CVA
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.ec.firmware.release: 208.240
dmi.modalias:
dmi:bvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.(LicensedbyAMI,LLC.):bvrB5404CVA.306:bd06/08/2026:br3.6:efr208.240:svnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:pnASUSEXPERTBOOKB5404CVA_B5404CVA:pvr1.0:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnB5404CVA:rvr1.0:cvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:ct10:cvr1.0:sku:pfaASUSEXPERTBOOK:
dmi.product.family: ASUS EXPERTBOOK
dmi.product.name: ASUS EXPERTBOOK B5404CVA_B5404CVA
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
** Affects: linux-hwe-7.0 (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Tags: amd64 apport-bug noble
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2168774
Title:
asus-nb-wmi: probe fails with -5 on ASUS ExpertBook B5404CVA (FANL
references missing NPCF), keyboard backlight lost (regression from
6.11)
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