After a recent upgrade, poweroff, shutdown and friends stopped doing their job. The system starts shutting down; only the keyboard lights are still on, then nothing happens for a few seconds and then the Pocket Reform reboots again.
> sudo reform-check
I: Contents of /proc/device-tree/model: MNT Pocket Reform with i.MX8MP Module
I: `uname -a` output: Linux subterraneobombus 6.17.11-mnt-reform-arm64 #1 SMP PREEMPT Debian 6.17.11-1+reform20251126T085426Z (2025-11- aarch64 GNU/Linux
E: Cannot get version of linux-image-mnt-reform-arm64 as it is not installed
I: Version of reform-tools: 1.82-3+reform20251209T125945Z+1
I: Version of system image: System Image v4: 2024-05-03
I: To retrieve the latest sysctl and keyboard firmware versions either install libxmlb-utils or install curl, xz-utils and libxml2-utils
W: unable to obtain version of system controller firmware -- firmware too old?
W: unable to obtain version of keyboard firmware -- firmware too old?
I: probably booting via /boot/boot.scr (/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf does not exist)
I: Mount source of /: /dev/mmcblk2p2 (eMMC)
I: Mount source of /boot: /dev/mmcblk2p1 (eMMC)
I: MNT Reform Desktop meta-package is not installed: reform-desktop-full
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: alsa-ucm-conf
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: espeak-ng
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: espeak-ng-data
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: flatpak
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: fwupd
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: gnome
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: gnome-disk-utility
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: gnome-firmware
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: gnome-shell-extension-dashtodock
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: gnome-shell-extension-manager
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: gnome-software-plugin-flatpak
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: gvfs-backends
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: mesa-vulkan-drivers
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: modemmanager
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: network-manager-gnome
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: ptyxis
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: speech-dispatcher-espeak-ng
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: tio
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: vulkan-tools
I: Depends of reform-desktop-full is not installed: wlr-randr
I: Suggests of reform-desktop-minimal is not installed: firmware-atheros
I: Suggests of reform-desktop-minimal is not installed: firmware-iwlwifi
I: Suggests of reform-desktop-minimal is not installed: firmware-mediatek
I: Suggests of reform-desktop-minimal is not installed: firmware-misc-nonfree
W: unexpected content in /etc/default/flash-kernel:
--- - 2025-12-12 15:27:08.023130222 +0100
+++ /etc/default/flash-kernel 2025-06-29 23:27:32.963272998 +0200
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-LINUX_KERNEL_CMDLINE=""
+LINUX_KERNEL_CMDLINE="loglevel=3"
LINUX_KERNEL_CMDLINE_DEFAULTS=""
E: unexpected last line in /etc/skel/.profile, should be:
if [ "$(whoami)" = "root" ]; then reform-help --root; elif [ -z "$WAYLAND_DISPLAY" ]; then reform-help; fi
I: the following files differ from how they are shipped by reform-tools (ignore /var/lib/alsa/asound.state):
??5?????? /var/lib/alsa/asound.state
??5?????? c /etc/skel/.config/wayfire.ini
??5?????? c /etc/skel/.config/sway/config.d/input
??5?????? c /etc/profile.d/reform.sh
E: linux-image-mnt-reform-arm64 is not installed
E: linux-headers-mnt-reform-arm64 is not installed -- cannot compile reform2_lpc module
E: the currently running kernel is not the one provided by linux-image-mnt-reform-arm64
E: reform2_lpc is not loaded (battery status information will be missing)
E: /usr/lib/modules/6.17.11-mnt-reform-arm64/updates/dkms/reform2_lpc.ko{.xz} does not exist
I: kernel boot parameters your system does use but which are not the default:
+ loglevel=3
+ loglevel=3
I: kernel boot parameters which are the default but your system doesn't use them:
- fbcon=font:TER16x32
E: the linux header package linux-headers-6.17.11-mnt-reform-arm64 for the currently running kernel is not installed
W: eMMC does not contain latest uboot
W: You can update it to the latest version by running as root:
reform-flash-uboot emmc
I: note that updating u-boot on eMMC on your platform is not without risk!
You should usually focus on getting rid of the lines prefixed with E: for “error”. Here is a breakdown:
Without having that meta-package installed, it will be more tricky to keep your kernel up-to-date.
You should look into upgrading your sysctl and keyboard firmware. The versions after the one you have (too old to retrieven the exact version) contain important fixes for the stability of keyboard/sysctl communication.
This is why you cannot shut-down properly. Without the reform2_lpc module, the system cannot tell your Pocket to switch off.
More errors because the module cannot be compiled above.
Thanks! I installed linux-image-mnt-reform-arm64 and linux-headers-mnt-reform-arm64 but the reform2_lpc is still uncompiled.
I’m not sure how to do this but guessed that sudo dpkg-reconfigure reform2-lpc-dkms was the command I needed. To load it, sudo modprobe reform2-lpc … and now shutdown works!
As for the system controller firmware and keyboard firmware, I’m having trouble remembering how I did this. I’m going to read the handbook again before trying.
7.2.4 Flashing the Firmware
7.4.2 Keyboard/Trackball Firmware
