Installed new kernel (6.7) but now my laptop won't boot

[LuigiCalamar]

I installed the latest Kernel - no issues.

Selected it from GRUB while booting - just got a blank screen and never completed.

Selecting the previous Kernel - still getting the blank screen and won’t complete.

[andreas85]

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[LuigiCalamar]

How can I do this if my computer won’t boot… ?

[andreas85]

@LuigiCalamar

How can I do this if my computer won’t boot… ?

Use a bootable USB-Stick

You may need it also to repair your system

[LuigiCalamar]

That makes sense - what do you recommend?

[BG405]

A stick with a current Manjaro .ISO is ideal, or at least a recent one.

You can then use manjaro-chroot -a from the Live environment and check there is space in the root partition (and particularly boot if you have that separate). e.g. df -h

Assuming all is fine there, try re-installing the last known-good kernel and then updating GRUB.

[LuigiCalamar]

OK - I was able to boot by selecting all my available kernels…

The kernel that boots up is 6.4.16-5

Prior to installing 6.7.7-1 I was successfully running on 6.6.19-1

However - 6.6.19-1 will also no longer boot…

How can I get back to that Kernel?

(it does feel like this is a graphics issue…)

[BG405]

What I’d suggest then is removing both the 6.6 and 6.7 kernels, then reinstalling 6.6 and see how things go from there.

Did you notice any errors during that last upgrade involving those kernels?

[LuigiCalamar]

removing 6.6 and 6.7 - reinstalling 6.6 and selecting that kernel worked fine… I have not tried to reinstall 6.7… not sure I want to go there again!

there were quite a few warnings during the installation of 6.6… I am copying in the details below:

The following packages will be installed:
linux66
linux66-rt-acpi_call
linux66-acpi_call
linux66-rt

Starting
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...
Packages (4) linux66-6.6.19-1  linux66-acpi_call-1.2.2-46  linux66-rt-6.6.20_rt25-1  linux66-rt-acpi_call-1.2.2-9
Total Installed Size:  294.79 MiB
:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n]
checking keyring...
checking package integrity...
loading package files...
checking for file conflicts...
checking available disk space...
:: Processing package changes...
installing linux66...
Optional dependencies for linux66
    wireless-regdb: to set the correct wireless channels of your country [installed]
installing linux66-rt...
Optional dependencies for linux66-rt
    wireless-regdb: to set the correct wireless channels of your country [installed]
    linux-firmware: firmware images needed for some devices [installed]
installing linux66-rt-acpi_call...
> Updating module dependencies...
installing linux66-acpi_call...
:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/5) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(2/5) Updating module dependencies...
(3/5) Updating linux initcpios...
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux66.preset: 'default'
==> Using default configuration file: '/etc/mkinitcpio.conf'
-> -k /boot/vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64 -g /boot/initramfs-6.6-x86_64.img --microcode /boot/intel-ucode.img
==> Starting build: '6.6.19-1-MANJARO'
-> Running build hook: [base]
-> Running build hook: [udev]
-> Running build hook: [autodetect]
-> Running build hook: [modconf]
-> Running build hook: [block]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'xhci_pci'
-> Running build hook: [keyboard]
-> Running build hook: [keymap]
-> Running build hook: [consolefont]
==> WARNING: consolefont: no font found in configuration
-> Running build hook: [plymouth]
-> Running build hook: [filesystems]
-> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: '/boot/initramfs-6.6-x86_64.img'
==> Image generation successful
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux66.preset: 'fallback'
==> Using default configuration file: '/etc/mkinitcpio.conf'
-> -k /boot/vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64 -g /boot/initramfs-6.6-x86_64-fallback.img -S autodetect --microcode /boot/intel-ucode.img
==> Starting build: '6.6.19-1-MANJARO'
-> Running build hook: [base]
-> Running build hook: [udev]
-> Running build hook: [modconf]
-> Running build hook: [block]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla2xxx'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'aic94xx'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'bfa'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qed'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla1280'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'wd719x'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'xhci_pci'
-> Running build hook: [keyboard]
-> Running build hook: [keymap]
-> Running build hook: [consolefont]
==> WARNING: consolefont: no font found in configuration
-> Running build hook: [plymouth]
-> Running build hook: [filesystems]
-> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: '/boot/initramfs-6.6-x86_64-fallback.img'
==> Image generation successful
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux66-rt.preset: 'default'
==> Using default configuration file: '/etc/mkinitcpio.conf'
-> -k /boot/vmlinuz-6.6-rt-x86_64 -g /boot/initramfs-6.6-rt-x86_64.img --microcode /boot/intel-ucode.img
==> Starting build: '6.6.20-1-rt25-MANJARO'
-> Running build hook: [base]
-> Running build hook: [udev]
-> Running build hook: [autodetect]
-> Running build hook: [modconf]
-> Running build hook: [block]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'xhci_pci'
-> Running build hook: [keyboard]
-> Running build hook: [keymap]
-> Running build hook: [consolefont]
==> WARNING: consolefont: no font found in configuration
-> Running build hook: [plymouth]
-> Running build hook: [filesystems]
-> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: '/boot/initramfs-6.6-rt-x86_64.img'
==> Image generation successful
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux66-rt.preset: 'fallback'
==> Using default configuration file: '/etc/mkinitcpio.conf'
-> -k /boot/vmlinuz-6.6-rt-x86_64 -g /boot/initramfs-6.6-rt-x86_64-fallback.img -S autodetect --microcode /boot/intel-ucode.img
==> Starting build: '6.6.20-1-rt25-MANJARO'
-> Running build hook: [base]
-> Running build hook: [udev]
-> Running build hook: [modconf]
-> Running build hook: [block]
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla2xxx'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'aic94xx'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'bfa'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qed'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'qla1280'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'wd719x'
==> WARNING: Possibly missing firmware for module: 'xhci_pci'
-> Running build hook: [keyboard]
-> Running build hook: [keymap]
-> Running build hook: [consolefont]
==> WARNING: consolefont: no font found in configuration
-> Running build hook: [plymouth]
-> Running build hook: [filesystems]
-> Running build hook: [fsck]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: '/boot/initramfs-6.6-rt-x86_64-fallback.img'
==> Image generation successful
(4/5) Refreshing PackageKit...
(5/5) Updating Grub-Bootmenu
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found theme: /usr/share/grub/themes/manjaro/theme.txt
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.6-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.6-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.6-rt-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.6-rt-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.6-rt-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.4-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.4-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.4-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.4-rt-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.4-rt-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.4-rt-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.2-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.2-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.2-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.1-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.1-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.1-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.1-rt-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.1-rt-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.1-rt-x86_64-fallback.img
Warning: os-prober will be executed to detect other bootable partitions.
Its output will be used to detect bootable binaries on them and create new boot entries.
Adding boot menu entry for UEFI Firmware Settings ...
Root filesystem isn't btrfs
If you think an error has occurred, please file a bug report at "https://github.com/Antynea/grub-btrfs"
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+/memtest.bin
Found memtest86+ EFI image: /boot/memtest86+/memtest.efi
done


Done ...

[BG405]

Those “possibly missing firmware for …” messages, assuming those are what you were referring to, are common and I believe quite harmless.

I’d still check df -h though as space issues are common, especially if you have a number of kernels installed.

[cscs]

@LuigiCalamar

Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.4-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.4-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.4-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.4-rt-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.4-rt-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.4-rt-x86_64-fallback.img
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.2-x86_64
Found initrd image: /boot/intel-ucode.img /boot/initramfs-6.2-x86_64.img
Found initrd fallback image: /boot/initramfs-6.2-x86_64-fallback.img

At least a problem is you have a bunch of unsupported kernels (6.2, 6.3, 6.4.
This could be causing any number of issues.
You also have multiple ‘rt’ versions too (6.1, 6.1-rt, 6.6, 6.6-rt), but I guess thats prerogative.
(realtime kernels are rarely useful for anyone outside of specific situations like audio engineering)

[LuigiCalamar]

Yes - I cleaned up all but my current running kernel and 1 older version (6.4)…

[cscs]

@LuigiCalamar

I cleaned up all but my current running kernel and 1 older version (6.4)…

Then you are not finished.
Keeping an EOL kernel installed will cause problems, such as for upgrades, and there is no reason to keep it unless its the only kernel that boots at the moment.
(6.4 reached its end of life 6 months ago)

[LuigiCalamar]

Wasn’t aware keeping old kernels on my system was an issue… so I’ve removed 6.4 and only have the 6.6 that is working installed.

… In the future - I’ll now know to boot into a new kernel to make sure it is working before removing an older kernel… if I’d no older kernels on my system with this last boot issue - things would have been more complicated…!

[cscs]

We generally suggest keep at least one good known working LTS kernel at all times.
For me this usually means the latest LTS (6.6 as of writing), plus whatever I am testing out.
So right now I have 6.6 if anything goes wrong, but I have been using 6.7 and then 6.8 (removing 6.7) when it was released.