Go back in time

**Egi_Power** · May 7th, 2009

Hi all!

First things first, I'm using Ubuntu 8.04, Hardy.
Today I updated my system through Synaptic.
The following updates were applied:

Commit Log for Thu May 7 15:01:53 2009

Upgraded the following packages:
libwmf0.2-7 (0.2.8.4-6) to 0.2.8.4-6ubuntu0.8.04.1
linux-generic (2.6.24.23.25) to 2.6.24.24.26
linux-headers-generic (2.6.24.23.25) to 2.6.24.24.26
linux-image-generic (2.6.24.23.25) to 2.6.24.24.26
linux-restricted-modules-common (2.6.24.16-23.56) to 2.6.24.17-24.1
linux-restricted-modules-generic (2.6.24.23.25) to 2.6.24.24.26
nvidia-glx-new (169.12+2.6.24.16-23.56) to 169.12+2.6.24.17-24.1

Installed the following packages:
linux-headers-2.6.24-24 (2.6.24-24.53)
linux-headers-2.6.24-24-generic (2.6.24-24.53)
linux-image-2.6.24-24-generic (2.6.24-24.53)
linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-24-generic (2.6.24.17-24.1)
linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-24-generic (2.6.24-24.39)

My question is:
Is it possible to undo these changes?

During the update I had to choose what to do with the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. I choose keep it as is (or something similar - that was the default option). Now I can't boot into the new kernel, still using 2.6.24-23.

Linux ***-desktop 2.6.24-23-generic #1 SMP Wed Apr 1 21:47:28 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux

Or is there an easier way to fix my menu.lst file, so I could use the latest kernel?

Thank you in advance.

Egi_Power

**fabertawe** · May 7th, 2009

You should accept the new menu.lst when offered. It's rather confusing as it doesn't actually replace yours with a new one but updates it, which is what we want!

For now try this...

Code:

sudo update-grub

You may still have to go in and edit menu.lst manually if it doesn't update the default booted kernel, i.e. change it to the latest.

**Egi_Power** · May 7th, 2009

Thank you for your quick answer.

Your advice gave me the following output:

Code:

***@***-desktop:~$ sudo update-grub
[sudo] password for ***: 
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-24-generic
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-generic
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic
Found kernel: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

As I can see, it founds the new kernel, 2.6.24-24, but the menu.lst file is still the same.

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernel 2.6.24-23-generic
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-generic root=UUID=9fe7ad52-ad78-40f3-b6de-e19d8b084c93 ro quiet
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernel 2.6.24-23-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-generic root=UUID=9fe7ad52-ad78-40f3-b6de-e19d8b084c93 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-23-generic

title Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=9fe7ad52-ad78-40f3-b6de-e19d8b084c93 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=9fe7ad52-ad78-40f3-b6de-e19d8b084c93 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic

title Ubuntu 8.04.2, memtest86+
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Microsoft Windows 7 BETA
# title Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

I even tried to reinstall all the above mentioned packages (related to the kernel), so maybe I would get the same popup (it was deb config or something like that) and I could choose another option, but this time it didn't ask about menu.lst.
I didn't accept the new menu.lst before because they were named very confusingly.

Any other ideas?

Thx.

Egi_Power

**fabertawe** · May 7th, 2009

Hmn... ok... the obvious thing to try now is removing (renaming) your current menu.lst and let it rebuild it from scratch...

Code:

sudo mv /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst-backup
sudo update-grub

Fingers crossed that'll fix it!

**Egi_Power** · May 8th, 2009

Thank you for your reply.

The following commands created the new menu.lst for me, just as you said:

Code:

***@***-desktop:~$ sudo mv /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lstbackup
[sudo] password for ***: 
***@***-desktop:~$ sudo update-grub 
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... 

Could not find /boot/grub/menu.lst file. Would you like /boot/grub/menu.lst generated for you? (y/N) y
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-24-generic
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-23-generic
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic
Found kernel: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

It might be even better, because now I have hidden menu, which I can access by pressing ESC. The only thing is now there is only 3 seconds if I want to enter the GRUB menu, but that I can fix by editing the menu.lst.

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 3

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu

There is another thing, it missed my NOT LINUX partition, the file ended like this:

title Ubuntu 8.04.2, memtest86+
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

Then I just took the last few lines from the backup file, and it seems to work.

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Microsoft Windows 7 BETA
# title Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

I already booted in the other system as well.

Now there is only one thing left, remove the 2.6.24-19 kernel. What's the easiest and simplest way to do it?

Thank you for your really quick help.
I appreciate it very much.
Take care.

Egi_Power

**fabertawe** · May 8th, 2009

Glad it worked for you

The easiest way to remove old kernels would be to go into Synaptic Package Manger (System->Administration menu) and type 2.6.24-19 into the search box ("name" only). Then "mark for complete removal". Your menu.lst will be rebuilt without that kernel. It will also leave everything after "### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST" untouched, so you will not have to enter your Windows entry again.

The only thing I would add about having the menu hidden is to make sure the following entry in menu.lst is set to "false"...

Code:

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

and

Code:

default         0

...otherwise when you add a new kernel it will change the default kernel in menu.lst to the previous one and not the newly installed kernel. Hope that makes sense!

**Egi_Power** · May 8th, 2009

Hi!

The stuff after "### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST" disappeared when we rebuilt the menu.lst from scratch. I just had to copy it that time.

The only thing I would add about having the menu hidden is to make sure the following entry in menu.lst is set to "false"...
Code:

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

If I understand the syntax of menu.lst file, then this entry should not make any difference if it's true or false, because it is commented out. If we would remove the # symbol, then it would make a difference.

The second part matched your recommendation.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

About removing the old kernel.
The search for 2.6.24-19 returns a lot of hits (even though only the NAME is selected), but only 3 packages installed.
I found the following:
linux-image-2.6.24-19-generic
I just Mark for Removal and it tells me that I'll have to remove linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-19-generic and linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-19-generic also.
I'm gonna try to remove them and see what happens.
Fingers crossed!

Thanks again for your posts, you are being really helpful.

Best regards,

Egi_Power

**fabertawe** · May 8th, 2009

Hi Egi_Power,

Originally Posted by Egi_Power

Hi!

The stuff after "### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST" disappeared when we rebuilt the menu.lst from scratch. I just had to copy it that time.

Yes, that's correct. Because we renamed the file so it didn't exist and was recreated. Now that it's there again update-grub will re-use it and not touch anything after that line. So you wont have to edit it to put it back in again.

If I understand the syntax of menu.lst file, then this entry should not make any difference if it's true or false, because it is commented out. If we would remove the # symbol, then it would make a difference.

Yes and no!. A double ## is a comment in the "AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST" section. The line beginning with a single # is in fact used. Outside of that a single # is a comment!

About removing the old kernel.
The search for 2.6.24-19 returns a lot of hits (even though only the NAME is selected), but only 3 packages installed.
I found the following:
linux-image-2.6.24-19-generic
I just Mark for Removal and it tells me that I'll have to remove linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24-19-generic and linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24-19-generic also.
I'm gonna try to remove them and see what happens.
Fingers crossed!

That is what should happen, it's safe to go ahead

Thanks again for your posts, you are being really helpful.

Best regards,

Egi_Power

You're welcome, glad I could be of assistance.

**Egi_Power** · May 8th, 2009

Hi!

The line beginning with a single # is in fact used.

My old menu.lst looked like this (it's in menu.lstbackup now):

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
#hiddenmenu

I had the GRUB menu without pressing ESC.

My new menu.lst lookes like this:

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu

Now I have to press ESC if I want to get to the boot menu.
That's why I think the lines start with # are commented out.

Outside of that a single # is a comment!

What did you mean by that?

I have to go to work.

Take it easy.

Egi_Power

**fabertawe** · May 8th, 2009

Ok... there's a section which starts with

Code:

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

and ends with

Code:

## ## End Default Options ##

Inside that section quotes start with ##
Before and after that section quotes start with #

Hope that's clear

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