12.04 Update Manager Has Multiple Kernel Images

[ulster63978]

I am running Release 12.04 (precise) 32-bit with Kernel Linux 3.13.0-30-generic on a Dell Inspiron mini 1012.

The latest set of updates in the Update Manager includes 4 different Linux kernel images, 3.13.0-32, 3.5.0-54, and 2 generic, one for Quantal (12.10) & the other for Trusty (14.04).

On the face of it, this seems very strange. If I'm running 3.13.0-30 why does Update Manager have all these others?

Plus the fact that the 2 generics are only 3kB each so they can't really be kernel images has me scratching my head.

I'm hoping that someone who understands how the Update Manager works can provide some guidance on how I should proceed. Is it safe to let these updates be installed?

[grahammechanical]

Please run this command


lsb_release -a

My guess is that it will say, Release: 12.04.5. I am guessing that the normal update process has taken you from Ubuntu 12.04 to 12.04.1 and from there to 12.04.2 and 12.04.3 and 12.04.4 and now 12.04.5.

It is not unusual for us to have more than one Linux kernel. And there are different parts to the full kernel packages.

linux-headers + kernel version number
linux-headers-generic + kernel version number
linux-image-generic
linux-generic
linux-headers

If a kernel is still being supported then it will be updated with whatever bug fixes are available. And we can boot into these old kernels. They are there in the Grub menu under Previous Linux versions.

Use the file manager to open /boot and see what Linux images are there.

Regards.

[ulster63978]

Thanks for the prompt response. Here's the release info:


lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 12.04.4 LTS
Release: 12.04
Codename: precise


/boot has the following images:


/boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-47-generic
/boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-48-generic
/boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-49-generic
/boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-51-generic
/boot/vmlinuz-3.5.0-52-generic
/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-30-generic

I will install the updates and post the release info here when they are done.

This may take a few days as I am currently "stove up" with a leg injury.

[ajgreeny]

Which kernel are you currently running?

uname -a will tell you if you are not sure, and

grep "menuentry " /boot/grub/grub.cfg | cut -c 1-100 will show you all the kernels you already have installed; it is quite possible that you may have five or six, or even more if you keep updating and never clean out the old ones.

[ulster63978]

Wow!! You UK guys are really on top of things.

Yes, I stopped cleaning out the old kernels when grub changed so they are in a seconday menu. Guess I'll have to go back to removing all but the latest 2.

The results from uname & grep show essentially the same info as lsb_release & /boot.


Dudley:~$ uname -a
Linux Dudley 3.13.0-30-generic #55~precise1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jul 4 21:56:07 UTC 2014 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

Dudley:~$ grep "menuentry " /boot/grub/grub.cfg | cut -c 1-100
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-30-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --clas
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.13.0-30-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.5.0-52-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.5.0-52-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --c
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.5.0-51-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.5.0-51-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --c
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.5.0-49-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.5.0-49-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --c
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.5.0-48-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.5.0-48-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --c
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.5.0-47-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 3.5.0-47-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --c

[ajgreeny]

Wow!! You UK guys are really on top of things.

Yes, I stopped cleaning out the old kernels when grub changed so they are in a seconday menu. Guess I'll have to go back to removing all but the latest 2.

The results from uname & grep show essentially the same info as lsb_release & /boot.
Thanks for that, it shows that you are running 12.04 with the trusty kernel 3.13.0-30, which you must keep as well as the 3.5.0-52 as a backup for now.
I suggest you use synaptic to remove all the others ie 3.5.0-47 to 3.5.0-51. Synaptic is the easiest application to use as you can search for packages by their name alone, so searching for the kernel version numbers will immediately show them and allow you to remove them completely as well as the header packages for those versions.

Having done that you can then update the 3.13.0-30 kernel to 3.13.0-32, and remove the 3.5 one left behind earlier. There is no point updating the earlier series kernels (3.5.0-#) you still have if the 3.13 series is working fine.