Gemini Code Assist: SIGILL crash on Intel Xeon E5620 (Missing AVX support) #1205
Description
Environment:
Cloud Code Extension version: 2.68.0 (Gemini Code Assist)
Version: 1.108.2
Commit: c9d77990917f3102ada88be140d28b038d1dd7c7
Date: 2026-01-21T13:52:09.270Z
Electron: 39.2.7
ElectronBuildId: 12953945
Chromium: 142.0.7444.235
Node.js: 22.21.1
V8: 14.2.231.21-electron.0
OS: Linux x64 6.18.5+kali-amd64
CPU: Dual Intel Xeon E5620 (16 threads, Westmere architecture)
Description: The Gemini Code Assist server fails to initialize and repeatedly crashes with signal SIGILL (Illegal Instruction). Analysis of the lscpu flags confirms the processor supports SSE4.2 but lacks AVX. The extension seems to require AVX instructions without providing a fallback for older but capable server-grade hardware.
Repro steps:
Launch VS Code on a machine with a CPU that does not support AVX (e.g., Intel Xeon E5620).
Enable the Gemini Code Assist extension.
Try to "Sign in"
Check the "Output" channel for "Gemini Code Assist".
Observe the SIGILL crash occurring during server initialization.