Why can't I have the latest kernel?

[felix]

Long time ago I had problems with updating my linux-zen kernel from version 6.4.3 to the next one. After rebooting the system couldn’t go past the “loading initram-fs” moment and stuck at a black screen.

I thought that the problem is temporary and in the next version of the kernel this bug will be fixed. Unfortunately right now the Garuda System Maintenance begs me to install version 6.5.5. I think I can wait any longer…

Somewhere in this forum I found out that the solution to my problem might be switching in my Acer laptop the RAID mode from SCSI to AHCI. After a bit of searching how to do that I finally let Garuda update the kernel. After a reboot I was happy that the system finally went pass the loading initram-fs and went straight ahead to my desktop

However…

My desktop is looking like this:

Well, I had to go back to the previous kernel (fortunately I did a snapshot before update).

So, my question is: Am I stuck with the old kernel forever? I was thinking about downloading the latest Garuda USB image and make a fresh install but… if the kernel on the USB will be behaving like this, my hope would wear a little thin…

System:
  Kernel: 6.4.3-zen1-2-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.1.1
    clocksource: tsc available: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
    root=UUID=6a135e81-5d37-4390-8a10-a9eef293c0d9 rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
    systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=1 loglevel=3 ibt=off
  Desktop: Cinnamon v: 5.8.4 tk: GTK v: 3.24.38 wm: muffin dm: LightDM
    v: 1.32.0 Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Aspire A515-54G v: V1.24 serial: <filter>
  Mobo: CML model: Doc_WC v: V1.24 serial: <filter> UEFI: Insyde v: 1.24
    date: 07/07/2021
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 39.0 Wh (100.0%) condition: 39.0/48.9 Wh (79.7%)
    volts: 16.2 min: 15.2 model: LGC AC14B8K type: Li-ion serial: <filter>
    status: full
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-10210U socket: BGA1528 (U3E1) note: check
    bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Comet/Whiskey Lake note: check gen: core 10
    level: v3 note: check built: 2018 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x8E (142) stepping: 0xC (12) microcode: 0xF8
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
    L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1775 high: 2100 min/max: 400/4200 base/boost: 2574/8300
    scaling: driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave volts: 0.8 V
    ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 800 2: 2100 3: 800 4: 2100 5: 2100 6: 2100
    7: 2100 8: 2100 bogomips: 33599
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CometLake-U GT2 [UHD Graphics] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
    driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20
    ports: active: eDP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9b41
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP108M [GeForce MX250] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
    driver: nouveau v: kernel non-free: 535.xx+ status: current (as of 2023-09)
    arch: Pascal code: GP10x process: TSMC 16nm built: 2016-21 pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 4 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 02:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1d13 class-ID: 0302 temp: 41.0 C
  Device-3: Quanta HD User Facing driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-5:3 chip-ID: 0408:a061
    class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.8 driver: X: loaded: intel,nouveau
    unloaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,nv,vesa dri: i965,nouveau gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22")
    s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 mapped: eDP1 model: AU Optronics 0x61ed built: 2018
    res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 143 gamma: 1.2 size: 340x190mm (13.39x7.48")
    diag: 395mm (15.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia nouveau platforms:
    device: 0 drv: iris device: 1 drv: nouveau device: 2 drv: swrast gbm:
    drv: iris surfaceless: drv: nouveau x11: drv: iris inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.3 vendor: intel mesa v: 23.2.1-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (CML GT2)
    device-ID: 8086:9b41 memory: 7.4 GiB unified: yes
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.264 layers: 3 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
    UHD Graphics (CML GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 23.2.1-arch1.1
    device-ID: 8086:9b41 surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
    (LLVM 16.0.6 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 23.2.1-arch1.1 (LLVM
    16.0.6) device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH-LP cAVS vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_skl,snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl
    bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:02c8 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.4.3-zen1-2-zen status: kernel-api with: osspd status: off
    tools: N/A
  Server-1: sndiod v: N/A status: off tools: aucat,midicat,sndioctl
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.80 status: n/a (root, process) 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 Comet Lake PCH-LP CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:02f0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 953.87 GiB used: 177.51 GiB (18.6%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Intel model: SSDPEKNW010T8
    size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 002C temp: 32.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 476.38 GiB size: 476.38 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 177.46 GiB (37.3%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
    maj-min: 259:5
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 100 MiB size: 96 MiB (96.00%)
    used: 54.7 MiB (57.0%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
    maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 476.38 GiB size: 476.38 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 177.46 GiB (37.3%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
    maj-min: 259:5
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 476.38 GiB size: 476.38 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 177.46 GiB (37.3%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
    maj-min: 259:5
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 476.38 GiB size: 476.38 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 177.46 GiB (37.3%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
    maj-min: 259:5
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.58 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    comp: zstd avail: lzo,lzo-rle,lz4,lz4hc,842 max-streams: 8 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 44.0 C pch: 48.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau
    temp: 42.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 284 Uptime: 7m wakeups: 1 Memory: total: 8 GiB
  available: 7.58 GiB used: 3.05 GiB (40.3%) igpu: 64 MiB Init: systemd v: 254
  default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 13.2.1 clang: 16.0.6
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 0 pm: pacman pkgs: 2038 libs: 523 tools: pamac,paru
  Shell: garuda-inxi (sudo) default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: gnome-terminal
  inxi: 3.3.30
Garuda (2.6.16-1):
  System install date:     2021-12-22
  Last full system update: 2023-07-27
  Is partially upgraded:   Yes
  Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager mkinitcpio
  Windows dual boot:       Yes
  Failed units:    

[filo]

Rather than holding back the linux-zen kernel, to avoid staying in a partial upgrade status, which is never good, maybe you could try the linux-lts one, and boot with it, but keep the zen one installed.If everything works well, at each update of the zen kernel give it a try.

[EagleBuzzard]

You could install mainline kernel to update the Kernel It works really great

[BluishHumility]

Do you have xf86-video-intel installed? If so, uninstall it and see if it helps with this issue.

sudo pacman -R xf86-video-intel

[felix]

It wooooorked!

Now I have got one last “issue” to solve: in the GRUB menu there are two Garudas. First I have to find out which one I should run, and how to remove the second one from the menu.

The first one is just called “Garuda” and the second one is “Garuda on nvm-something”

[NaN]

@felix

The first one is just called “Garuda” and the second one is “Garuda on nvm-something”

Ah that’s actually a very easy fix. Look here

How do I remove snapper backup images?

those "@_backup_..." actually appear in btrfs subvolumes for me and they are the reason of extra "Garuda linux on /dev/nvme0n1p2". Deleting them and then updating grub with sudo update-grub has been the solution for me and several people. They are created by snapper when you roll back a snapshot. To delete those backup subvolumes using the btrfs assistant is the easiest method to achieve it. [image]

[felix]

OK, finally my “Updates to install” screen is empty and Garuda System Maintenace doesn’t warn me about “partial updates” Thank you all for help!