Update Manager updating same exact Kernel?

[VMC]

I noticed I had updates tagged. When I saw they were the same as I already had, I did a CRC and listing of '/boot' folder. Also 'uname -a'.

After updates it was revealed that there were no change whatsoever. This is happened in the past. Why?

[drs305]

Today when I updated one of my machines I saw the kernel was among the updates. Although the listing was the same, linux-image-2.6.24-21, when I looked at the details they were different. I can't access it at the moment, but it the update was something similar to 2.6.24-21.6 to 2.6.24-21.15 when I viewed the details.

The 'uname -a' command would show no change, staying at 2.6.24-21, even though it was now at .15 or whatever.

[VMC]

Thanks you. That helps! Details of what, or where?

[drs305]

Thanks you. That helps! Details of what, or where?

There are a couple of ways. If you know there is a kernel update, you could look in synaptic and compare the 'installed version' column to the 'latest version' column. If they differ and you have updates enabled, there is a good chance that is the update being made.

If you use update manager, as you probably saw, it only says the update is, for example, 2.6.24-21. When I begin the update/download, there is an option to 'Show the individual files'. As the linux-image is being downloaded, it shows the entire filename, including the additional version information. I am updating Intrepid at the moment and it shows that 2.6.27-7 is being updated from -14 to -15.

And finally, to beat a dead (or dying) horse, you can see if the kernel (or any other app) has had a recent update by running:

aptitude changelog appname

Example: aptitude changelog linux-image-2.6.27-7

This will show the changes made to the package, although these changes may or may not be installed on your machine. One of the pieces of information is the date of the change.