Groovy 5.8 kernel update seem to break the GUI/video?

Development Discussion
#1

So I've been fiddling with a "hybrid" sources list of groovy/devel and I ran into a "hunk patch" error a week back or so while doing an apt update/upgrade, and there has been a bcwl??? wifi related error from the get go. Today I ran an apt update/dist-upgrade got a few packages and ran an "autoremove" and I checked uname -r and it was still showing 5.4 kernel . . . ??

So I was trying to remember where to find the kernels that are installed or available and got into the "software sources" app and while I was there I checked the "pre-release groovy packages" box and the "reload the cache" window opened . . . and then it "hung" . . . had to try multiple times to close the app to close the cache window.

I then ran another, in this case, "apt update/upgrade" and that pulled about 200 packages, so I ran through that, it showed a "5.8" kernel as being installed in my '12 Mac Pro multi-boot situation . . . I ran another "autoremove" and it removed some things and then ran through the grub listing, finding all of the 5 distros that I have installed . . . .

I then rebooted and the grub menu failed to show, this happened previously with U-MATE several times now while doing updates/upgrades the grub menu gets wiped and only U-MATE will boot . . . so we got to the "MOK failed to load window" . . . and then we went to a black screen . . . ??? The display power light is "blue" showing "signal" . . . but black is all we see. I tried to get to a TTY but black is all I see . . . .

I hit the power button briefly and, hmm . . . MATE splash window appears with the blinking dots . . . and then shuts down.

I cold booted and again same thing . . . I even tried to type my password into the blackness to see if it would log me in . . . again tried the TTY keystrokes . . . nothing but "the blackness" . . . again hit the power button, same thing, splash appears then machine shuts down.

I'm over in OSX system to post this thread. Something in the install did not seem to mix well with the "pre-release packages" item . . . seems like the install is "busted down" . . . and in the process grub got messed up, just like it did last week. There is a bug report on "grub menu not appearing" but devs don't seem to be "working on it" . . . but I don't have this grub problem in Lu 20.10, or TW, or manjaro . . . only u-MATE seems to erase everyone else from grub . . . and now it seems to have erased video??? except for when it is powering down, then the splash appears on the display nice and crispy??

I don't know if at some point I could "chroot" over into U-MATE to see if something is repairable, OR . . . it's done blown up . . . start freshly, etc?? But right now can't log in, can't get to TTY?? Not sure if there is a way to get "single user" to work for U-MATE since I have a bunch of systems installed??

Any thoughts appreciated???

#2

Later that same day . . . managed to boot into TW using SG2 disk, and ran "os-prober" and got grub repaired--rebooted into Lu 20.10 "groovy" which I also have the "pre-release" box checked in . . . so that went well, and I then ran an update/upgrade there.

Rebooted and it appears that Lu is also "breaking" grub, as there was no "grub welcome" message . . . and we were back to the "default" boot option being U-MATE . . . this time splash loads and the blinking dots blink for "filesystem check" . . . and then back into the black. No TTY, etc.

I rebooted a number of times into OSX boot manager and went through all of the "EFI boot disks" which traditionally would have given me "grub" menu . . . but now there is no grub . . . and the only distro that is "booting" is U-MATE, but, it is booting into "nothingness" . . . .

Possibly this previous "hunk patch" error did something that messed up the kernel . . . as posted previously it seemed to be "stuck" at 5.4 and then today it should have jumped up to 5.8, but on reboot . . . it's not????

Back to SG2 and grub repair, now it appears that "ubuntu" groovy is not cooperating with grub, or others on grub . . . renders them not so usable in my multi-boot environment . . . . And seems like the U-MATE install is "toast" . . . ????

#3

Even later that same day . . . so, again repaired grub, and figuring that U-MATE was "toast" I rebooted into Lu 20.10 . . . the system that I had previously "updated" . . . and got the Lu splash . . . the dots . . . and then into the black???????? So the same thing is happening in both of my groovy installs with likely the latest kernel possibly 5.8???

So, thinking that now both of my ubuntu systems were toast I rebooted into grub and scrolling down to the U-MATE groovy option I selected the "advanced options" line and then dropped down to a "5.4.0-42-generic" kernel . . . hit "go" and again we got the splash, the blinking dots . . . the black screen with the cursor upper left, not blinking . . . black screen . . . a couple of minutes . . . and, boom . . . GUI log in window!!! So it looks like the latest 5.8 kernel is not working for my Mac Pro . . . should be using "nouveau" driver . . . ??? But dropping back to "old" kernel revives the system???

So, seems like the "/" is not toast, but still running upgrades appears to bust grub, which is a pain . . . and there is a "bug report" on "problems with grub" but devs don't seem to be breaking through on it.

Might try to change the subject to reflect the issues with "the kernel"???

#4

bug report # 1890211 has been filed.

#5

The pre-release repositories are likely to cause breakages as those packages are only for testing and providing feedback via Launchpad.

It is recommended to not run the pre-release repositories on any production machine.

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#6

Thanks for the post on that . . . I did have that thought . . . . I believe I had that setting in my Lubuntu distro for months?? w/o it being a problem . . . but it was instant karma in the U-MATE install, as I ran one apt update/upgrade, then rebooted and checked the "pre-release" box . . . ran another apt, got 200 packages and rebooted into black . . . .

Then, went over to compare in Lubuntu, which already had the pre-release option . . . but run an apt . . . and also . . . busted. It does say "should be willing to report issues" . . . but, it doesn't say, "Prolly will break your install so you will be reporting many issues . . . " . . . ??

So, seems like this is "pre-SID"??? Anyway, appreciate the confirmation, easy enough right now to uncheck that box . . . . But, lately the upgrades are breaking grub, so playing with ubuntu is labor intensive to fix grub each time on an upgrade . . . .

#7

So I went into each of the two ubuntu installs, unchecked the pre-release box, used synaptic to remove the 5.8 kernels, ran apt to autoremove the now unneeded packages . . . but, so far can not edit grub to get the "5.8" to not be the default grub bootloader . . . have to go into "advanced" and scroll back to 5.4 kernel . . . . Messed up, but not "toasted" as I had assumed previously. I guess I'll just keep upgrading until 5.8 kernel gets to be "developmental" rather than SID???