[Novalug] help (panic); know the problem but not what to do how.

Charles R. Head charlesrhead65@gmail.com
Sun Feb 25 11:01:20 EST 2018


*Ed,*

I have a "meat axe" method that has worked for me.  I've used it 
successfully numerous times and it has never failed me. However, if you 
use it and it doesn't work, there is no way to recover from it, short of 
a reinstall.  I also always load /Home into a separate partition so, if 
necessary, I can reinstall the OS without loosing my data and 
customizations.

The steps I use are as follows:

 1. Use a utility such as the "Disk Usage Analyzer" to determine which
    kernels are installed on your computer.
 2. Write down the full version number of the kernel(s) you want to
    delete.  Note that there isn't anything magic about noting the
    version number.  You just want some alpha-numeria string that is
    unique to use later in a search.  The kernel number is one possibility.
 3. Start "Synaptic Package Manager" and search for the version number
    of one of the kernels you want to eliminate.
 4. Delete each package identified by that version number.
     1. Note - this is the point of no return.
     2. Make sure you are leaving one complete kernel that can be used
        in the future!
     3. Note the number of that kernel so you can use it, if necessary. 
        If you don't, too bad for you.
 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each old kernel that you no longer want to
    have installed.
 6. Close the "Synaptic Package Manager" and reboot.
 7. The boot loader detects the kernels still present on the computer
    during the next start-up.

I've used this process to eliminate old kernels that were not deleted 
after upgrades were installed (and were occupying needed disk space), 
and to delete new kernels that didn't work for some reason.

On occasion, I've also had to edit the boot loader's list of installed 
kernels to list the kernel that I want to start with.  Unfortunately, I 
don't remember how I did that.  The good news is that I haven't had to 
do that in ages.

Now I'll sit back and await the flame war of derision and scathing 
comments from the people who really know how to do this the "correct" way.

*Charlie Head*
703-979-9430

**********************************************************
On 02/24/2018 11:00 PM, Ed Chehovin via Novalug wrote:
> Pereira,
> I had the exact same problem with my Linux Mint 17.2 system.   I was able to revert to kernel -112 and all is normal but now the problem is I have to revert to version -112 every time I reboot.  This will be a problem if my wife reboots the computer (she is not a Penguinista).
> Now that I have the latest version of GCC anyone know how to delete kernel -116 and reinstall?
>   
> Thanks in Advance,Ed
>
>      On Saturday, February 24, 2018, 3:23:28 PM EST, pereira via Novalug <novalug@firemountain.net> wrote:
>   
>   To all who responded:
>
> thank you for your input. I learned how to reboot to an earlier kernel.
>
> The steps are these:
>
> Make sure that in the file /etc/default/grub has as entry
> GRUB_TIMEOUT=-1
> This allows you to hold the leftmost 'shift' button during reboot
> (command: reboot).
> (my setup had GRUB_TIMEOUT=10, which didn't let me do that).
> Then you can select 'Advanced....' and pick a previous kernel that worked.
>
> The problem (below) :  upgrade gave a kernel -116. The previous one was
> -112.
> I'm back in business.
>
> Nino
>
>
>
>
> On 02/24/2018 09:54 AM, pereira wrote:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> In a flash of daring I followed a suggestion to update with new
>> software. Now I'm stuck.
>>
>> I did find a suggestion to fix it, but how? what is the sequence of
>> commands? to
>>
>>
>> "Rebooted into 4.4.0-112 kernel and all was well."
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> Nino
>>
>> here's what happened in more detail. I ran into the bug described in
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/1750937;
>> this one no longer allows me to arrange my monitors with nvidia software
>> that steers the GeForce 960 card I got some time ago to handle three
>> monitors.
>>
>> I searched google for an error message in dmesg. This got three hits,
>> referring to
>> the above bug number. One of these had the suggestion I'm asking about:
>>
>> "Rebooted into 4.4.0-112 kernel and all was well."
>>
>> Then it went on to suggest more complicated remedies that I can't seem
>> to follow either
>> (below). Presumably, this bug will be fixed next update, eventually
>>
>> The problem is exactly the same as mine:
>>
>> Running fine with nvidia-384 until this kernel update came along. When
>> booted into the new kernel, got super low resolution and
>> nvidia-settings was missing most of its functionality - could not
>> change resolution.
>>
>> Rebooted into 4.4.0-112 kernel and all was well.
>>
>> The root cause of the problem has been found to be installing the -116
>> kernel without a sufficiently updated version of gcc. In my case, my
>> system received the gcc update AFTER the kernel update.
>>
>> Uninstalling the -116 kernel and reinstalling it with the updated
>> version of gcc solved the problem for me.
>>
>> I don't know how to unstall a particular kernel (-116) or find the
>> update to gcc.
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