How to roll back to a previous kernel without keyboard ?

[eta24]

Hi everybody,
I have a desktop HP I3/8G ram/1tb hdd/graphic card radeon5 series with Linux mint 17.3 installed for 2 years running fine on kernel 3.13.0.165, few days a go I updated the kernel to 166, I rebooted and I'm stuck at the login screen because the keyboard and mouse are not recognized anymore(the screen resolution is wrong also), although I can use the keyboard to access BIOS;it is a way to roll back to previous working kernel using a live usb or something else?
Thanks.

[deepakdeshp]

I am afraid youu have to use keyboard, select advanced option in grub, and choose the kernel you want to choose from.

[smurphos]

If you can use keyboard to access BIOS then you can use the keyboard to access the Grub menu to boot into the previous kernel as outlined.

It's normally a case the holding the left shift key down as you boot.

[AZgl1800]

In the Grub Menu, hopefully the keyboard is still being recognized there.

Boot to a previous version of the kernel that is in trouble, then use Update Manager to remove the offending Kernel.

[pbear]

In case it's not clear, eta24, bringing up the Grub menu at boot gets around the problem because the new kernel won't have loaded yet.

[eta24]

Unfortunately holding the left SHIFT does nothing(no GRUB menu, goes to login screen);this was the first thing I did, sorry I didn't mentioned in my first post,I have a backup of all my files from two weeks a go, so probably is time to move on to the newer version.
Thank you everybody.

[arvy]

The key press timing is critical. See this Wiki item. If the Shift key doesn't work, try the Escape key.

[donalduck]

just a word to say I had exactly the same problem as you.
my keyboard was no more recognized at login prompt after "succesfull" installation of kernel 3.13.0-167 and reboot !!!
the issue was resolved rebooting and choosing the previous kernel in grub menu (look for "alternatives" ...).

if you do not see the grub menu, probably you have changed the grub timeout !

from the grub manual pages

'GRUB_TIMEOUT'
Boot the default entry this many seconds after the menu is
displayed, unless a key is pressed. The default is '5'. Set to
'0' to boot immediately without displaying the menu, or to '-1' to
wait indefinitely.

If 'GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE' is set to 'countdown' or 'hidden', the
timeout is instead counted before the menu is displayed.

'GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT'
Wait this many seconds before displaying the menu. If <ESC> is
pressed during that time, display the menu and wait for input
according to 'GRUB_TIMEOUT'. If a hotkey associated with a menu
entry is pressed, boot the associated menu entry immediately. If
the timeout expires before either of these happens, display the
menu for the number of seconds specified in 'GRUB_TIMEOUT' before
booting the default entry.

If you set 'GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT', you should also set
'GRUB_TIMEOUT=0' so that the menu is not displayed at all unless
<ESC> is pressed.

This option is unset by default, and is deprecated in favour of the
less confusing 'GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=countdown' or
'GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden'.

'GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET'
In conjunction with 'GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT', set this to 'true' to
suppress the verbose countdown while waiting for a key to be
pressed before displaying the menu.

This option is unset by default, and is deprecated in favour of the
less confusing 'GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=countdown'.

For more detailed customisation of 'grub-mkconfig''s output, you may
edit the scripts in '/etc/grub.d' directly. '/etc/grub.d/40_custom' is
particularly useful for adding entire custom menu entries; simply type
the menu entries you want to add at the end of that file, making sure to
leave at least the first two lines intact.

PS: if I were you I'd boot with a livecd and inspect/edit grub configuration ( beware )

PS2: try to press the down/up arrow key multiple time just after reboot to stop the grub timer countdown.

[eta24]

Thanks for all support , I installed 18.3, for now; not too happy when have to change.

[Schultz]

eta24 wrote:
Thanks for all support , I installed 18.3, for now;not to happy when have to change.

If it's any consolation, versions 17.x are nearing end-of-life anyway.