Distribution: Garuda Linux (KDE edition)
Bootloader: systemd-boot
Filesystem: Btrfs with Snapper
Kernel: linux-zen 6.15.9-zen1-1-zen
Problem description
After running , I saw this warning:
The kernel update failed to determine how to update initramfs.You will need to update manually using mkinitcpio or yourself or your system WILL NOT BE BOOTABLE.
Indeed, the new kernel would not boot until I manually regenerated initramfs and updated systemd-boot.
What I’ve already triedConflict on packagesDuring an earlier update, I got file-conflict errors between and garuda–support.
Resolve conflicts
sudo pacman -R garuda--support
sudo sudo pacman -S garuda--support --overwrite ‘/usr/share/libalpm/*’
After that, --force ran without conflict.
Fixing EFI mount & regenerating initramfs
The root cause turned out to be that /boot/efi was mounted read-only.
I remounted it RW, then regenerated and re-registered the new kernel images:
sudo umount /boot/efi
sudo mount -o remount,rw /dev/sdb1 /boot/efi
sudo --force
sudo bootctl update
Manual initramfs + bootloader updateEvery time I update the kernel, I must run??:
sudo umount /boot/efisudo mount -o remount,rw /dev/sdb1 /boot/efi
sudo --forcesudo bootctl updateonly then will the new kernel boot.?
GNOME edition
On my other Garuda (GNOME) install, i get the same error msg:”The kernel update failed to determine how to update initramfs.
You will need to update manually using mkinitcpio or yourself or your system WILL NOT BE BOOTABLE.”)
I do not run these commands—yet it boots fine after updates.
Questions for maintainers
Should Garuda automatically regenerate initramfs and update systemd-boot on kernel upgrades?
Is there a missing pacman hook or config in the KDE edition?
Why does my GNOME edition handle this without manual steps?
Full system info
Please find below the complete output of:
gabi@dell in ~ as 🧙
❯ garuda-inxi --full --verbosity=7 --filter --no-host --no‐title
System:
Kernel: 6.15.9-zen1-1.1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.1.1
clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=7ae932db-ba48-4d18-a676-fd86b6ef6fcd rw rootflags=subvol=@
vt.default_red=30,243,166,249,137,245,148,186,88,243,166,249,137,245,148,166
vt.default_grn=30,139,227,226,180,194,226,194,91,139,227,226,180,194,226,173
vt.default_blu=46,168,161,175,250,231,213,222,112,168,161,175,250,231,213,200
quiet loglevel=3 ibt=off
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.4.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.16.0
wm: kwin_wayland vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Latitude E6330 v: 01
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 9 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: Dell model: 0NG17W v: A00 serial: <superuser required>
part-nu: Latitude E6330 uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell v: A21
date: 11/30/2018
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 48.8 Wh (100.0%) condition: 48.8/48.8 Wh (100.0%)
volts: 12.1 min: 11.1 model: Samsung SDI DELL P8TC727 type: Li-ion
serial: <filter> status: full
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i5-3360M bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge
gen: core 3 level: v2 built: 2012-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6
model-id: 0x3A (58) stepping: 9 microcode: 0x21
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 2 cores: 2 threads: 4 tpc: 2
smt: enabled cache: L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB
desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1200 min/max: 1200/3500 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
governor: schedutil cores: 1: 1200 2: 1200 3: 1200 4: 1200 bogomips: 22325
Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: Dell driver: i915
v: kernel arch: Gen-7 process: Intel 22nm built: 2012-13 ports:
active: LVDS-1,VGA-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3
bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0166 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Microdia Dell Integrated HD Webcam driver: uvcvideo type: USB
rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-1.5:5
chip-ID: 0c45:643f class-ID: 0e02
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.18 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,intel,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915 d-rect: 3286x1968
display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: LVDS-1 pos: bottom-l model: Seiko Epson 0x5441 built: 2011 res:
mode: 1366x768 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 118 gamma: 1.2
size: 293x165mm (11.54x6.5") diag: 336mm (13.2") ratio: 16:9
modes: 1366x768
Monitor-2: VGA-1 pos: top-right model: Asus VK266H serial: <filter>
built: 2009 res: mode: 1920x1200 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 89 gamma: 1.2
size: 550x340mm (21.65x13.39") diag: 647mm (25.5") ratio: 16:10 modes:
max: 1920x1200 min: 720x400
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel crocus platforms: device: 0 drv: crocus
device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: crocus surfaceless: drv: crocus wayland:
drv: crocus x11: drv: crocus
API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 4.2 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.1.7-arch1.1
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB
GT2) device-ID: 8086:0166 memory: 1.46 GiB unified: yes display-ID: :0.0
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.321 layers: 5 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 25.1.7-arch1.1
device-ID: 8086:0166 surfaces: N/A device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
(LLVM 20.1.8 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.1.7-arch1.1 (LLVM
20.1.8) device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: N/A
Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor wl: wayland-info
x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1e20
class-ID: 0403
Device-2: Creative Sound Blaster Tactic(3D) Alpha
driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 2-2.3:4 chip-ID: 041e:30dc class-ID: 0300
serial: <filter>
Device-3: DSEA A/S Sennheiser Main Audio
driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 3-1.2:3 chip-ID: 1395:005d class-ID: 0300
serial: <filter>
API: ALSA v: k6.15.9-zen1-1.1-zen status: kernel-api tools: N/A
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.7 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network vendor: Dell driver: e1000e
v: kernel port: f080 bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:1502 class-ID: 0200
IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Device-2: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie:
gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:422b
class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, smbd, sshd, systemd-timesyncd
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 357.72 GiB used: 29.82 GiB (8.3%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: SK Hynix model: SC311 SATA 256GB
size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0P10 scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Apacer model: AS350 128GB
size: 119.24 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 200 scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 118.95 GiB size: 118.95 GiB (100.00%)
used: 29.76 GiB (25.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 68.3 MiB (22.8%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17
ID-3: /home raw-size: 118.95 GiB size: 118.95 GiB (100.00%)
used: 29.76 GiB (25.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 118.95 GiB size: 118.95 GiB (100.00%)
used: 29.76 GiB (25.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 118.95 GiB size: 118.95 GiB (100.00%)
used: 29.76 GiB (25.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.65 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
comp: zstd avail: lzo-rle,lzo,lz4,lz4hc,deflate,842 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 63.0 C mobo: 43.0 C sodimm: 36.0 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 0
Info:
Memory: total: 8 GiB available: 7.65 GiB used: 3.13 GiB (40.9%)
Processes: 253 Power: uptime: 16m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 3.03 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1350 libs: 333 tools: octopi,paru Compilers:
gcc: 15.1.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.3.3 default: fish v: 4.0.2 running-in: konsole
inxi: 3.3.38
Garuda (2.7.5-1):
System install date: 2025-06-18
Last full system update: 2025-08-08
Is partially upgraded: No
Relevant software: snapper NetworkManager dracut
Windows dual boot: Probably (Run as root to verify)
Failed units:
--- System Health Check Report ---
17 checks run in 1.03 seconds ⌛
Powered by garuda-health 🦅
✅ System health check passed. No issues found.
gabi@dell in ~ as 🧙 took 3s373ms
❯
Thanks in advance for any pointers!
(Please edit if you find it weird… i do this couse the forum said new users only allow 5 links in one post, or something… I dont put any links in this thing…)
