Unable to Boot after Update and Full-Upgrade including kernel 4.4.0-36-generic

[dbyentzen]

I updated Maui today using "sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade" from the terminal. This update included kernel 4.4.0-36-generic. I rebooted and was meet with this after Grub loaded:

"Busybox v1.22.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.22.0-15ubuntu1) built-in shell (ash)

    Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

    (initramfs)"


I was able to successfully revert to 4.4.0-34-generic. I've done some googling and have found different causes for this so before I attempt a fix on my own I'm hoping to get advice from the forum.  Any help is appreciated.

[leszek]

Can you manually run update-initramfs -u for that kernel. I think you can specify the kernel with the -k option (please see the manpage to double check that I am right) and see if it works booting after that.
Normally a new kernel does not remove the old one so it should appear in the advanced bootoptions menu.
Hope you noticed that and don't need to remove/reinstall the kernel all the time.

Also make sure if you have a seperate boot partition that it has enough free space otherwise initramfs creation might not work.
For what I know you need to make sure that manually. There is no way on Ubuntu/Neon currently to check or remove old kernels automatically if /boot is too full.

[dbyentzen]

Can you manually run update-initramfs -u for that kernel. I think you can specify the kernel with the -k option (please see the manpage to double check that I am right) and see if it works booting after that.
Normally a new kernel does not remove the old one so it should appear in the advanced bootoptions menu.
Hope you noticed that and don't need to remove/reinstall the kernel all the time.

Also make sure if you have a seperate boot partition that it has enough free space otherwise initramfs creation might not work.
For what I know you need to make sure that manually. There is no way on Ubuntu/Neon currently to check or remove old kernels automatically if /boot is too full.

Not currently at the machine but allow me ask for clarification. You want me to boot up using 4.4.0-34-generic( the old kernel & the one that works), open terminal and issue: "sudo update-initramfs -u -k 4.4.0-36-generic" ?  Man pages say I can use "-k specific kernel" or "-k ALL" for all kernels.


The new kernel did not remove any older kernel but I did receive a notice that 4.4.0-33-generic was unneeded. I don't regularly remove older kernels & always keep the last one prior to new kernel update.

I do have a separate boot it's: /dev/sda1   ---  I'll use "df -h" when home to check space.

Once I'm back at the machine, I'll do this and post the results.  Thanks.
 

[dbyentzen]

Can you manually run update-initramfs -u for that kernel. I think you can specify the kernel with the -k option (please see the manpage to double check that I am right) and see if it works booting after that.
Normally a new kernel does not remove the old one so it should appear in the advanced bootoptions menu.
Hope you noticed that and don't need to remove/reinstall the kernel all the time.

Also make sure if you have a seperate boot partition that it has enough free space otherwise initramfs creation might not work.
For what I know you need to make sure that manually. There is no way on Ubuntu/Neon currently to check or remove old kernels automatically if /boot is too full.

Not currently at the machine but allow me ask for clarification. You want me to boot up using 4.4.0-34-generic( the old kernel & the one that works), open terminal and issue: "sudo update-initramfs -u -k 4.4.0-36-generic" ?  Man pages say I can use "-k specific kernel" or "-k ALL" for all kernels.


The new kernel did not remove any older kernel but I did receive a notice that 4.4.0-33-generic was unneeded. I don't regularly remove older kernels & always keep the last one prior to new kernel update.

I do have a separate boot it's: /dev/sda1   ---  I'll use "df -h" when home to check space.

Once I'm back at the machine, I'll do this and post the results.  Thanks.
 

Ok, I booted with 4.4.0-33-generic and issued 'sudo update-initramfs -u -k 4.4.0-36-generic' then 'sudo update-grub'. I rebooted into the same original busybox message:

  "Busybox v1.22.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.22.0-15ubuntu1) built-in shell (ash)


    Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

    (initramfs)"


I've inserted below output from the terminal.  I hope this helps with any other advice. 


  david@david-Inspiron-660s:~$ sudo update-initramfs -u -k 4.4.0-36-generic
[sudo] password for david:  
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-36-generic
david@david-Inspiron-660s:~$ sudo update-grub
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found theme: /boot/grub/themes/maui/theme.txt
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-36-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-36-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-34-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-34-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /memtest86+.elf
Found memtest86+ image: /memtest86+.bin
done
david@david-Inspiron-660s:~$ df -h
Filesystem                 Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev                       2.9G     0  2.9G   0% /dev
tmpfs                      584M  8.9M  575M   2% /run
/dev/mapper/maui--vg-root  911G  133G  732G  16% /
tmpfs                      2.9G   13M  2.9G   1% /dev/shm
tmpfs                      5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs                      2.9G     0  2.9G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda1                  472M  122M  326M  28% /boot
tmpfs                      584M     0  584M   0% /run/user/118                                                                                
tmpfs                      584M   20K  584M   1% /run/user/1000                                                                               
/dev/sdb2                  392G  143G  250G  37% /media/david/externala                                                                       
/dev/sdb1                  1.5T  310G  1.2T  22% /media/david/backup                                                                          
david@david-Inspiron-660s:~$



  
**I've thought about trying the solution from here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/744674/b...-initramfs

[Pliny.D.Elder]

sudo update-initramfs -u -k all

[leszek]

Very strange then. Is there any log in the busybox shell that you can find and that could indicate what's going wrong here?

[dbyentzen]

sudo update-initramfs -u -k all

Thanks, I plan on trying this next.

[dbyentzen]

Very strange then. Is there any log in the busybox shell that you can find and that could indicate what's going wrong here?

No, I do not find any logs in the busybox shell. I'll try 'sudo update-initramfs -u -k all' but I'm unsure it will work, either.


A friend that uses Fedora suggests continuing to use 4.4.0-34-generic until the next kernel update and then updating to that kernel, effectively skipping over 4.4.0-36-generic. What are your thoughts on that? When will the next kernel update come?

[starbuck]

Is there any reason you need 4.4.0-36 or higher? Imo if your base system works fine, just update apps and plasma for latest features, and keep your base system stable on your hardware.

[dbyentzen]

Is there any reason you need 4.4.0-36 or higher? Imo if your base system works fine, just update apps and plasma for latest features, and keep your base system stable on your hardware.

That was my thinking exactly but I did want to try one last effort by using update-initramfs -u -k all. Now all kernels at boot go to the busybox shell. 4.4.0-34-generic went from working to not working--this makes me this wonder if I have a problem with my hardware.  I've been using this hardware( Dell Inspiron with Intel chip and graphics) since 12.04 with no kernel issues and I see no reason why suddenly the kernel stops working except hardware issues. At this point, I'm going to start over with a fresh install and see. 


I'll take your advice and, after install, freeze on the kernel.  My only disappoint here is that I didn't learn what the problem was and how to prevent/correct it.


Thanks for your help. The Netrunner/Maui Team has done a fantastic job with Maui 1.