0

I'm trying to update my dev environment (a VMWare virtual machine) from 16.04 LTS to 20.04 LTS. The update to 18.04 seemed to have run fine but now when I boot I get a kernel panic and then it says at the end "Machine halted".

I tried to follow the solutions outlined in this similar issue:

Kernel panic and unable to boot Ubuntu 16.04 after updating

Observations:

  • If entering grub menu and selecting the old kernel, I can boot to desktop just fine
  • The outlined solutions do not work, for example:

sudo update-initramfs -u -k 4.15.0-117-generic && sudo update-grub

where the kernel version is the new one from 18.04 version. By not working I mean the booting still fails and the command gives and output:

I: The initramfs will attempt to resume from /dev/sda5
I: UUID=....
I: Set the RESUME variable to override this

(while the boot partition is actually /dev/sda1)

Anyway not a linux pro and no I'm pretty lost how to solve this problem?

EDIT 1:

Related issue:

Ubuntu 13.10, kernel still 3.8.0-31-generic

But the proposed solution to not help as everything is installed correctly (according to apt):

abc@Lubuntu-16-04:~$ sudo apt-get install linux-generic 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
linux-generic is already the newest version (4.15.0.117.104).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

Plus some additional information:

abc@Lubuntu-16-04:~$ uname -sr
Linux 4.4.0-189-generic
abc@Lubuntu-16-04:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS
Release:    18.04
Codename:   bionic

A screenshot of the kernel panic, can't copy the text:

Kernel Panic

beginner_
  • 151
  • 1
    Linux 4.4.0-189 is the old one which works and 4.15.0-117 is the new one which fails. I just also added additional info which you maybe missed while commenting. – beginner_ Sep 09 '20 at 09:32
  • If you boot a live system using the 4.15 kernel (any 18.04 or 18.04.1) do you have issues? Note: 18.04.2 will use the 4.18 kernel, 18.04.3 will use 5.0 etc do you have issues? This maybe a test to see how your hardware handles a later kernel, at least without later patches you'll get with upgrade. What I'd try (esp. on real hardware), on VM I'd look more at the virtualization software (oracle virtual box for example can't handle newer kernels than it was written to handle very well, I have limited experience with VMWare though I'd hope for more than vbox has in regards limitations). – guiverc Sep 09 '20 at 12:03
  • I think you are right. The Lubuntu 20.04 live CD didn't boot as well with a kernel panic and I have an old version of vmware workstation – beginner_ Sep 09 '20 at 13:51

1 Answers1

0

If you're trying to go from Lubuntu 16.04 LTS to 20.04, you should re-install.

Lubuntu 18.04 LTS was the last Lubuntu release that used the LXDE desktop. If you check the release notes of any later LXQt release, such as Lubuntu 20.04 LTS, you'll note the following warning

Note, due to the extensive changes required for the shift in desktop environments, the Lubuntu team does not support upgrading from 18.04 or below to any greater release. Doing so will result in a broken system. If you are on 18.04 or below and would like to upgrade, please do a fresh install.

https://lubuntu.me/focal-released/ https://lubuntu.me/focal-1-released/

Lubuntu LXDE desktops require re-install to switch to a modern LXQt desktop.

Yes the Lubuntu team wrote notes on the 18.04 (last LXDE) to 18.10 (first LXQt), but in testing users were all having problems where they had made changes to the defaults, such that the LXDE to LXQt notes were never published (you'll have to use a search engine to find them) and the LXDE to LXQt change is unsupported without re-install. Also note those notes were never updated to allow for 18.04 to later releases (eg. 18.04 to 20.04 upgrades).

Given you've stated you want to move to Lubuntu 20.04 LTS, you should upgrade your install via re-install.

guiverc
  • 30,396
  • thanks for this warning. Well that sounds like it's the only choice. I wanted this to also be a dry-run/make a "manual" for the upgrade process before I do it on the actual server which is headless Ubuntu server (yeah I have a test server on which this will happen first). – beginner_ Sep 09 '20 at 11:42
  • Ubuntu Server will upgrade from 16.04 to 18.04, reboot then 18.04 to 20.04, however your title mentioned Lubuntu which won't due to DE change (LXDE is GTK2 based which is likely to be dropped from repositories once gimp completes it's port to GTK3; as Lubuntu switched to LXQt/Qt5 & XFCE/Xubuntu completed it's port to GTK3). It's possible yes (the system I'm typing this on was LXDE converted to LXQt) but you should expect problems. – guiverc Sep 09 '20 at 11:53