[SOLVED] - Update Manager offering to 'upgrade' my kernel to an OLDER version. WHAT?

[Cassandra]

Am I allowed to name then on here? Or would you like me to PM their name to you instead?

Please name (and shame) publicly.

I bought my laptop from the website laptopwithlinux.com

They are based in the Netherlands. I found them to be quick to respond to my questions, very helpful, and accurate in their estimate of the delivery time to me here in the UK.

"Older" kernels are tucked away under the Advanced section in the Grub bootloader menu. You might need to make that visible, which can be done like this:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... .html#ID10
(item 10)

I have now downloaded/installed v5.8.0-49 of the kernel (the Update Manager list is now showing 5.8.0-48 as 'Superseded').

So I am going to follow your instructions to try to get the Grub menu to show, and then boot in to the 5.4.0-49 kernel.

Wish me luck!

[Moem]

[Additional question: why are NO bullet points appearing in the list above, except after the first item? How do I make one appear at the start of each line inside the 'list' tags?]

Inside the 'list' tags, which you applied correctly, each item needs to be tagged as a list item.

• Like
• I
• have
• done
• here.

Code view:

Code: Select all

[list]
[*]Like 
[*]I
[*]have 
[*]done 
[*]here.[/list]

You can use the button marked with an asterisk to generate the tags.

[Cassandra]

[Additional question: why are NO bullet points appearing in the list above, except after the first item? How do I make one appear at the start of each line inside the 'list' tags?]

Inside the 'list' tags, which you applied correctly, each item needs to be tagged as a list item.

• Like
• I
• have
• done
• here.

Code view:

Code: Select all

[list]
[*]Like 
[*]I
[*]have 
[*]done 
[*]here.[/list]

You can use the button marked with an asterisk to generate the tags.

Ah, I forgot to include the [*] tags!

Thankyou!

[Cassandra]

By the way: I'm getting a bit worried about your sources list, because of the fact that the -49 is the latest official kernel you're seeing. It should be the -48. So there's something rotten in the borough, I'm beginning to suspect....

Let's investigate.

Here's the output:

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System:
  Kernel: 5.8.7-050807-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa 
  base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Notebook product: NS50MU v: N/A serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Notebook model: NS50MU serial: <filter> UEFI: INSYDE v: 1.07.01LWL 
  date: 09/07/2020 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 71.5 Wh condition: 71.5/73.9 Wh (97%) 
  model: Notebook BAT status: Full 
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.43 GiB used: 2.99 GiB (19.4%) 
  RAM Report: 
  permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 bits: 64 
  type: MT MCP arch: Tiger Lake rev: 1 L2 cache: 8192 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx 
  bogomips: 38707 
  Speed: 1401 MHz min/max: 400/4200 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1359 2: 1356 
  3: 1358 4: 1303 5: 1314 6: 1360 7: 1306 8: 1303 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
  resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel Xe Graphics (TGL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.6 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel vendor: CLEVO/KAPOK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
  bus ID: 00:1f.3 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.8.7-050807-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: CLEVO/KAPOK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 3000 bus ID: 34:00.0 
  IF: enp52s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: 3000 
  bus ID: 35:00.0 
  IF: wlp53s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 26.71 GiB (5.7%) 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 980 PRO 500GB 
  size: 465.76 GiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 455.29 GiB used: 26.14 GiB (5.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1 
  ID-2: /boot size: 704.5 MiB used: 573.4 MiB (81.4%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
  ID-3: /boot/efi size: 511.0 MiB used: 7.8 MiB (1.5%) fs: vfat 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 
  ID-4: /run/timeshift/backup raw size: 463.57 GiB 
  size: <superuser/root required> used: <superuser/root required> fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/vgmint-root 
  ID-5: swap-1 size: 980.0 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com ulyssa main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main
Info:
  Processes: 263 Uptime: 1h 19m Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: 
  gcc: 9.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38

Does that look OK?

[Cassandra]

I have to go to bed now - and my electricity supply is going to be turned off for much of tomorrow to enable maintenance/upgrades of the local supply infrastructure.

I shall not attempt to boot in to v5.8.0-49 of the kernel tonight.

I shall wait to see whether anyone who sees the system report output that I included in my previous post has any advice for action that I ought to take to make sure that my system is 'safe' and 'clean' and 'stable' etc

Slàinte,
Cass.

[Pjotr]

I shall wait to see whether anyone who sees the system report output that I included in my previous post has any advice for action that I ought to take to make sure that my system is 'safe' and 'clean' and 'stable' etc

The -49 is OK after all.... the difference with my machine was probably a matter of mirror servers syncing at different times. This is what my own machine reports now, after a bunch of updates:

Code: Select all

pjotr@Lenovo-IdeaPad-Slim-1-14AST-05:~$ cat /proc/version_signature
Ubuntu 5.8.0-49.55~20.04.1-generic 5.8.18

And your inxi output isn't worrisome. The only thing you'll have to watch is that boot partition getting too full, but that should be manageable by wiping some old unused kernels. The kernel tool in Update Manager contains some fine cleaning features; I suggest you let it do its magic for a bit.

So you can safely proceed with testing the -49.

The Dutch company laptopwithlinux.com that you mentioned, has behaved like a bunch of cowboys. It's irresponsible to install a non-official unsupported vanilla upstream kernel on a machine they sell (while not even telling you that it should only be used as a temporary emergency workaround, and leaving a bunch of unused 5.4.x kernels sitting as dead weight on your system). I'd never buy anything from them, that's for sure...

[Cassandra]

Well, I have now update my Grub settings, and booted in to the 5.8.0.49 kernel.
I immediately got a notification from the Update Manager to alert me to an update of the 5.8.0.49 kernel.

I installed that, and the output that I get from entering the Terminal command...

Code: Select all

cat /proc/version_signature

...is now:

Code: Select all

Ubuntu 5.8.0-49.55~20.04.1-generic 5.8.18

Just like Pjotr's machine

Also...

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxpmz

...now returns:

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System:    Kernel: 5.8.0-49-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Notebook product: NS50MU v: N/A serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Notebook model: NS50MU serial: <filter> UEFI: INSYDE v: 1.07.01LWL date: 09/07/2020 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 68.4 Wh condition: 71.5/73.9 Wh (97%) model: Notebook BAT status: Discharging 
Memory:    RAM: total: 15.44 GiB used: 1.33 GiB (8.6%) 
           RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Tiger Lake rev: 1 
           L2 cache: 8192 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 38707 
           Speed: 1300 MHz min/max: 400/4200 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1212 2: 1209 3: 1158 4: 1201 5: 1201 6: 1200 7: 1200 
           8: 1202 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel Xe Graphics (TGL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel vendor: CLEVO/KAPOK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1f.3 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.8.0-49-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: CLEVO/KAPOK driver: r8169 v: kernel 
           port: 3000 bus ID: 34:00.0 
           IF: enp52s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: 3000 bus ID: 35:00.0 
           IF: wlp53s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 26.76 GiB (5.7%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 980 PRO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 455.29 GiB used: 26.19 GiB (5.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1 
           ID-2: /boot size: 704.5 MiB used: 573.4 MiB (81.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
           ID-3: /boot/efi size: 511.0 MiB used: 7.8 MiB (1.5%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 
           ID-4: swap-1 size: 980.0 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 41.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list 
           1: deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com ulyssa main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main
Info:      Processes: 307 Uptime: 3m Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38

Everything that I have tested so far still works ok
I will keep testing hardware and get back to you if I have a problem.

And I wish to give many thanks to Pjotr!

Slàinte,
Cass.

[Cassandra]

My next question (my apologies) is:

I have noticed that, if I reboot my machine without going through the 'Advanced Options' in Grub, by default it boots in to the 5.8.7-050807 kernel with which my laptop was shipped to me.
As I have now installed the (officially-supported) 5.4.0-49 kernel, how can I get the laptop to boot in to that one by default?

Is the only way that I can do that going to be to use the 'Remove Kernels' button in 'Update Manager' to delete/uninstall the 5.8.7-050807 kernel?

The following kernels are currently installed on this laptop:

• 5.8.7-050807 (Unsupported)
• 5.8.0-49 (Supported until August 2021)
• 5.4.0-71 (Supported until April 2025)
• 5.4.0-70 (Superseded)
• 5.4.0-67 (Superseded)
• 5.4.0-58 (Superseded)

Am I right to think that the 'best practice' option for me would be to use the 'Remove Kernels' in 'Update Manager' to remove all of them except for 5.8.0-49 and 5.4.0-71 ?

Once again, my thanks to you in advance for your answers - and for your patience!

Slàinte,
Cass.

[Pjotr]

Am I right to think that the 'best practice' option for me would be to use the 'Remove Kernels' in 'Update Manager' to remove all of them except for 5.8.0-49 and 5.4.0-71 ?

Yes.

As I've remarked earlier, the 5.8.0-49 is based on the upstream 5.8.18 kernel, which means that your machine will in fact be running on a more modern kernel than the one with which it was sold to you. So you're going forward, not backward.

In this case I'd even uninstall the 5.4.0-71, because the 5.4 kernel series is probably not modern enough for your hardware anyway. That means no spare kernel for the time being, but that's only until the next official 5.8.x kernel becomes available. When that happens, you can preserve the -49 as spare.

[Cassandra]

As I've remarked earlier, the 5.8.0-49 is based on the upstream 5.8.18 kernel, which means that your machine will in fact be running on a more modern kernel than the one with which it was sold to you. So you're going forward, not backward.

Thanks

In this case I'd even uninstall the 5.4.0-71, because the 5.4 kernel series is probably not modern enough for your hardware anyway. That means no spare kernel for the time being, but that's only until the next official 5.8.x kernel becomes available. When that happens, you can preserve the -49 as spare.

I think that you are very probably right about that - I decided to boot in to the 5.4.0-71 kernel, and I immediately noticed two things:
1- the trackpad didn't work, and;
2- after I had logged-in to my user account I got a popup warning about the compatibility of the audio & video drivers.

In comparison to the non-functionality of the trackpad, I did not think that the audio-&-video driver compatibility issue was really a very high priority!

My thanks to you again for all your help in this thread!

Slàinte,
Cass.

[dollyp]

I bought my laptop from the website laptopwithlinux.com

They are based in the Netherlands. I found them to be quick to respond to my questions, very helpful, and accurate in their estimate of the delivery time to me here in the UK.

I also bought my new computer from this company and agree completely with Cassandra's assessment.

My purchase was a couple of month's earlier and I had the most up-to-date 5.4 kernel installed with an earlier one for spare. I can only assume that they installed a newer one on Cassandra's laptop to make it compatible with some hardware feature.

Regards

[Pjotr]

I can only assume that they installed a newer one on Cassandra's laptop to make it compatible with some hardware feature.

That's my assumption as well. Nevertheless, installing a vanilla upstream kernel can and should only serve as an emergency measure.

A temporary stopgap they should've warned their customer about: because of the deviant numbering that the Ubuntu devs apply to their kernels, quick redemption by means of the regular kernel update mechanism wasn't to be expected. A customer should be made aware of that, so that he can intervene manually at an earlier stage. Like has happened in this thread.