Possible menu.lst problem after kernel update

[Col-1023]

Today I was offered a kernel update, but while updating the kernel I was asked about menu.lst and offered these suggestions,

1. install the package maintainer's version
2. keep the local version currently installed
3. show the differences between the versions
4. show a side-by-side difference between the versions
5. show a 3-way difference between available versions
6. do a 3-way merge between available versions (experimental)
7. start a new shell to examine the situation

What would you like to do about menu.lst?

I didn't really know what menu.lst was so I chose number 4.

Everything else went fine, and after rebooting there was some graphics ugliness, but eventually everything seemed to work.

A second reboot showed no graphics ugliness.

After some reading, it may have been wiser to choose number 1, since even though I've rebooted, I my system may not be using the latest kernel.

System monitor says 3.2.0-30 generic, whereas the kernel update today was 3.2.0-31 I believe.

Synaptic shows the latest kernel I have installed and marked green is 3.2.0-31.50

Ubuntu is the only os on this machine, so by doing nothing shouldn't the latest kernel be automatically installed, I only started typing or moving the mouse when the passwork screen comes up.

Is this a problem, or nothing to worry about.

Thanks In Advance

[Col-1023]

I ran uname -r, uname -v and got back 3.2-0.30 and #48

After more searching, My problem might be related to this Bug #1054289


https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...x/+bug/1054289

[mikewhatever]

The menu.lst is the old GRUB's config file, and when seeing that message, it's generally safer to select the second option.

Since everything seems to work, I am not sure there is anything to do.

The bug report you've linked to seems unrelated.

[Col-1023]

Thanks Mike for your reply.

I linked to that bug because while update manager had downloaded the latest kernel, 3.2.0-31.50, this is not currently running on my system, that is it's not been installed.

The kernel on my system is 3.2.0-30.48.


I think something strange did happen with the latest ketnel update, but don't know whether it's a big deal or just a trivial problem that will be fixed soon.

[oldfred]

If you kept an old menu you have to update the menu yourself to include the new kernel.

Whether old grub legacy or grub2.

sudo update-grub

But why do you still have grub legacy? Ubuntu 9.04 was the last to use grub legacy as the standard. Grub2 started with 9.10 and only those who upgraded may have still kept grub legacy. Have you just upgraded from 9.04 or before or had some issue where you thought you needed grub legacy?

[Col-1023]

Thanks Oldfred for your reply.

I think I did start with ubuntu 9.04 a few years back, then upgraded to 9.10 - 10.04 lts, where I stayed until upgrading to 12.04.1.

I Never upgraded grub to grub2 because I was worried that if anything went wrong the system wouldn't boot, and I need this system working, I also didn't see any advantages in grub2.

So assuming I'm still using grub legacy, if I run "sudo update-grub" will that update my menu.lst file, or is this a command that only works with grub2

[grahammechanical]

The command to update Grub legacy was "sudo update-grub." and it is also the command for Grub 1.99 (also called Grub 2) and for the real Grub 2 that now comes with 12.10.

I have found that kernel updates do not happen at the same time. I see parts of the kernel being downloaded and then in the next update the rest of the parts to the kernel come down. And then the new kernel gets activated in Grub. That could be what is happening here.

When a new kernel is brought in the update manager should run update-grub and the details section should show what kernels it is finding.


Regards.

[Col-1023]

Sory, been away from this pc for a while.

The sudo upgdte-grub DIDN'T WORK.

It found all the kernels I have installed, including the latest 3.2.32, and it said it had updated menu.lst.

But when I restarted and checked menu.lst it hadn't changed, with the 3.20.30 kernel still the top most kernel.

How can this happen,

Should I run gksudo update-grub

Will that do any harm, or will it fix the problem.

Nautilus says the files were written [modified] today at the times I ran sudo update-grub, so something seems to be wrong.

Any help appreciated.

There were no error messages reported when running sudo update-grub.

I found this in my menu.lst file,

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

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

These entries were in the defaults, automatic section of menu.lst, should I chantge these settings, and if so how to change them without causing damage.

TIA

[darkod]

Do you see the advantage of grub2 now?

I suggest you do what you should have done years ago, upgrade to grub2.

You can do that from within ubuntu and there is very little risk involved. Just in case, if things go wrong, you should have a live cd of the version you are running now (12.04 LTS) at hand.

If you have only one hdd, /dev/sda, it means you need grub2 on the MBR of /dev/sda. The commands to remove all grub1 and install grub2 from within the running installation would be like:

sudo apt-get remove --purge grub grub-common
sudo apt-get install grub-pc
sudo grub-mkconfig
sudo update-grub
sudo grub-install /dev/sda

Reboot and you should see the grub2 menu with an option for the latest kernel.

PS. Before trying the above it's wise to check whether you use msdos or gpt table. With gpt grub2 doesn't have enough space on the MBR and needs a small bios_grub partition. You can see your table type among the info in the output of:
sudo parted -l (small L)

[Col-1023]

Thanks for the info Darkod.

I have 3 x 750 gb drives, but only 1 os [ubuntu] running on sda, so does that change any of the commands above?

I'm just wondering whether changing,

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

to

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


in my menu.lst file would fix my problem.

Thanks.