[Solved-ish] Kernel update issue

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sydbat
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[Solved-ish] Kernel update issue

Post by sydbat »

I installed the 5.10 kernel nearly a year ago and it works without any problems.

However, I have decided to get rid of the 5.4 kernel that I have kept as a just-in-case backup. After removing this kernel, I am still getting the prompt in Update Manager to install it. How can I get rid of this nag?

Mint 20.2 Mate

Anything you need to know in order to help you help me?

Thanks
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
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dvirberlo
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Re: Kernel update issue

Post by dvirberlo »

Hi,

First, disabling kernel updates reasonable thing to do because kernel issues are harder to solve.
Unless you have a brand new hardware or you have some issues with the current kernel- it is probably the best to leave the kernel as it is.

As far as I know, both 5.4 and 5.10 kernels are recieving updates.
According to this post there is no easy way to desable kernel updates (yet?).
You can just unselect them when you install updates in the mint-update tool.

Best of luck!
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t42
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Re: Kernel update issue

Post by t42 »

Run this command to get of 5.4 series

Code: Select all

sudo apt remove linux-generic linux-headers-generic linux-image-generic
Please note that 5.4 will be supported till the end of LM 20.x life and kernel 5.10 is unsupported already
If you want to move with newer kernels you can install linux-generic-hwe-20.0 - now it is on 5.13

Code: Select all

sudo apt install linux-generic-hwe-20.04
Last edited by t42 on Sun Jan 09, 2022 6:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Hoser Rob
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Re: Kernel update issue

Post by Hoser Rob »

dvirberlo wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 6:31 pm ... First, disabling kernel updates reasonable thing to do because kernel issues are harder to solve....
That's actually backwards, kernel updates are easy to revert. It's the other high level updates you need to worry about.

If there's just one old kernel there. just leave it. You should always have the last working kernel there in case of problems with the current one. This is such common accepted Linux practise that if you do sudo apt autoremove to get rid of unneeded packages, it will leave the last kernel there.
Last edited by Hoser Rob on Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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spamegg
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Re: Kernel update issue

Post by spamegg »

I would also recommend keeping the 5.4 kernel just in case.

You can avoid the updates by blacklisting them:
blacklist.png
As you see, it says "right click on the updates to add them to blacklist". So when you get the 5.4 update, you can right-click on it.

But you should still keep the 5.4 kernel.
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sydbat
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Re: Kernel update issue

Post by sydbat »

spamegg wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:22 am I would also recommend keeping the 5.4 kernel just in case.

You can avoid the updates by blacklisting them:
blacklist.png
As you see, it says "right click on the updates to add them to blacklist". So when you get the 5.4 update, you can right-click on it.

But you should still keep the 5.4 kernel.
I'm going to mark this as the correct answer.

After looking at a few other Linux forums, it seems that there is a possibility of creating problems if you remove the kernel that the distro came with. Something about various dependencies that could be removed, then trying to figure out what needs to be put back. Too much work for a minor annoyance.

Thanks for all your answers!
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