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I got a new laptop and installed Ubuntu on it, the touchpad didn't work, so I followed instructions here: IdeaPad 5 15are05 - elan touchpad not working on 20.04 nor on 18.04 and installed a custom configured kernel. So I upgraded from 5.4.0-37-generic to 5.7.5.

My laptop froze and crashed before I could reboot it, and when I restarted it, I got this error message:

out of memory. Press any key to continue...

Then rebooting a second time, I got this error:

Kernel Panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)

When I go to Advanced Options for Ubuntu and select the 5.7.5 kernel, I got this kernel panic error message. When I boot the 5.4.0-37-generic kernel it works fine.

I hear that this kernel panic issue can be caused by the /boot partition running out of space. Here is what is in my /boot partition:

$ ls -l /boot
total 805492
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    237718 Tay  20 11:33 config-5.4.0-26-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    237753 Teg   3 09:24 config-5.4.0-37-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    242913 Teg  23 20:30 config-5.7.5
drwx------ 2 root root      4096 Sak  31  1969 efi
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root      4096 Teg  23 22:20 grub
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root        27 Teg  23 17:48 initrd.img -> initrd.img-5.4.0-37-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  49453383 Teg  23 17:48 initrd.img-5.4.0-26-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  55362853 Teg  23 20:24 initrd.img-5.4.0-37-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 668761446 Teg  23 21:19 initrd.img-5.7.5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root        27 Teg  23 17:22 initrd.img.old -> initrd.img-5.4.0-26-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    182704 Kup  13 18:09 memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    184380 Kup  13 18:09 memtest86+.elf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    184884 Kup  13 18:09 memtest86+_multiboot.bin
-rw------- 1 root root   4736015 Tay  20 11:33 System.map-5.4.0-26-generic
-rw------- 1 root root   4738082 Teg   3 09:24 System.map-5.4.0-37-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   5369711 Teg  23 20:30 System.map-5.7.5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root        13 Teg  23 20:30 vmlinuz -> vmlinuz-5.7.5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  11657976 Tay  22 21:48 vmlinuz-5.4.0-26-generic
-rw------- 1 root root  11662080 Teg   3 10:32 vmlinuz-5.4.0-37-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  11760704 Teg  23 20:30 vmlinuz-5.7.5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root        24 Teg  23 17:48 vmlinuz.old -> vmlinuz-5.4.0-37-generic

I can see that the initrd.img-5.7.5 file is gigantic compared to all the other files in there. Could this be the issue? Why is it so big I wonder.

Google Chrome is the app that caused the laptop to crash.

When I run:

dpkg --list | grep linux-image

the output is:

ii  linux-image-5.4.0-26-generic               5.4.0-26.30                         amd64        Signed kernel image generic
ii  linux-image-5.4.0-37-generic               5.4.0-37.41                         amd64        Signed kernel image generic
ii  linux-image-generic-hwe-20.04              5.4.0.37.40                         amd64        Generic Linux kernel image

It doesn't actually show 5.7.5. But 5.7.5 appears in the Grub menu and it is the default kernel that gets booted.

Is there a way I can repair the 5.7.5 kernel? If not, how can I remove it?

Don Flannagan
  • 143

1 Answers1

5

This is how I would do it, assuming that you downloaded and manually installed 5.7.5:

Boot from the oldest kernel, 5.4.0-26-generic, and then remove the 5.7.5 stuff, relink faulty links, reinstall the latest official kernel, update grub and reboot. In your case (but first, for safety, backup your data):

cd /boot
# remove the 5.7.5 stuff
sudo rm config-5.7.5
sudo rm initrd.img-5.7.5
sudo rm System.map-5.7.5

remove faulty links


sudo rm vmlinuz
sudo rm vmlinuz.old


Remove faulty kernel


sudo rm vmlinuz-5.7.5


Relink correctly


sudo ln -s vmlinuz-5.4.0-37-generic vmlinuz
sudo ln -s vmlinuz-5.4.0-26-generic vmlinuz.old


reinstall the latest official kernel


sudo apt install --reinstall linux-generic


Make sure grub is OK -- maybe not necessary after reinstall


sudo update-grub


Make sure nothing else is missing


sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade  # or sudo apt full-upgrade ## see 'man apt'


Reboot


sudo reboot now

Should you want to try a 5.7.5 kernel I suggest that you download these packages:

amd64/linux-image-unsigned-5.7.5-050705-generic_5.7.5-050705.202006220832_amd64.deb
amd64/linux-modules-5.7.5-050705-generic_5.7.5-050705.202006220832_amd64.deb

from https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.7.5/ and install them with dpkg, assuming that you have a terminal open in the download directory:

sudo dpkg -i linux-image-unsigned-5.7.5-050705-generic_5.7.5-050705.202006220832_amd64.deb linux-modules-5.7.5-050705-generic_5.7.5-050705.202006220832_amd64.deb

Grub will automatically update and this worked for me, I'm up and running on kernel 5.7.5-generic. If you encounter errors then remove that kernel by booting into an old kernel and then run

sudo apt purge linux-image-unsigned-5.7.5-050705-generic linux-modules-5.7.5-050705-generic

and reboot (grub will be automatically updated).

Serafim
  • 495
  • I tried what you said and rebooted, but 5.7.5 is still the first entry in Grub. In the /boot partition, there is still this: vmlinuz-5.7.5. I should delete that right? – Don Flannagan Jun 24 '20 at 23:07
  • It worked! I deleted vmlinuz-5.7.5 in addition to everything you said, and when I reboot now, it automatically boots into 5.4.0-37-generic now. I will try install 5.7.5 now the way you suggested, and see if this fixes the touchpad. Thanks for the help! It's much appreciated! – Don Flannagan Jun 24 '20 at 23:14
  • There is a number of versions between 5.4.0.37 and 5.7.5 on https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/ that you can try but be careful. There are good reasons why they are not yet official. Mainly that it's tricky to get some programs working as libraries not always are compatible over versions. It might be a good idea to consider other means to get the touchpad working. Could you add to your original post info about your Laptop. Make and model and optionally a photo of the barcode label on the bottom side? – Serafim Jun 25 '20 at 07:27
  • You are right. Updated the recipe. Sorry for the miss. – Serafim Jun 25 '20 at 08:10
  • There is also kernel 5.4.0-39.43 with updates related to several laptops, maybe that is the safest way to go. – Serafim Jun 25 '20 at 08:22
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    Shouldn't it be sudo apt upgrade? – sylvain Dec 02 '21 at 01:00
  • @sylvain: Yes! or even better if using apt: 'sudo apt full-upgrade' – Serafim Dec 03 '21 at 08:33