How do I purge 4.4.0-53 and use 4.4.0.-51?

How do I purge 4.4.0-53 and use 4.4.0.51? If I allow 4.4.0-53 to load then my two screens go to sleep and system will not boot. If I load 4.4.0-51 then all is well. I have spent what seems like an eternity trying to find a solution and copied and pasted numerous lines into the Terminal without any success.

Hi matebod

Synaptic package manager can be used to purge and lock packages.

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-lock-package-versions-from-synaptic-package-manager.html

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/synaptic-package-manager-beginners-guide-for-ubuntu-users.html

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticHowto

What kernels do you have installed? In terminal:

dpkg -l linux*
1 Like

Hi v3.xx,

Many thanks for getting back to me so quickly - will certainly read and
try to understand the web pages you have given me.

I have copied and pasted the output from my terminal to: “dpkg -l
linux*” as requested. Only two appear in the list when I try to boot though.

When I tried to turn on my PC this morning both 4.4.0-51 and 4.4.0-53
refused to load. I have had to unplug one of my monitors to get the pc
to boot up which it did after a couple of attempts - so I guess that
today both are messed up.

/~$ dpkg -l linux*/

/Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold//
//| 
Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend//
//|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)//
//||/ Name           Version      Architecture Description//
//+++-==============-============-============-=================================//
//ii  linux-base     4.0ubuntu1   all          Linux image base package//
//un  linux-doc-4.4. <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//ii  linux-firmware 1.157.5      all          Firmware for Linux kernel 
drivers//
//ii  linux-generic  4.4.0.53.56  amd64        Complete Generic Linux 
kernel and//
//un  linux-headers  <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-headers- <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-headers- <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-headers- <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-headers- <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-headers- <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-headers- <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-headers- <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-headers- <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-headers- <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//ii  linux-headers- 4.4.0-51.72  all          Header files related to 
Linux ker//
//ii  linux-headers- 4.4.0-51.72  amd64        Linux kernel headers for 
version //
//ii  linux-headers- 4.4.0-53.74  all          Header files related to 
Linux ker//
//ii  linux-headers- 4.4.0-53.74  amd64        Linux kernel headers for 
version //
//ii  linux-headers- 4.4.0.53.56  amd64        Generic Linux kernel 
headers//
//un  linux-image    <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-31.50  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.//
//rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-34.53  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.//
//rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-36.55  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.//
//rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-38.57  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.//
//rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-42.62  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.//
//rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-43.63  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.//
//rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-45.66  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.//
//rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-47.68  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.//
//ii  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-51.72  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.//
//ii  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-53.74  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.//
//rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-31.50  amd64        Linux kernel extra 
modules for ve//
//rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-34.53  amd64        Linux kernel extra 
modules for ve//
//rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-36.55  amd64        Linux kernel extra 
modules for ve//
//rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-38.57  amd64        Linux kernel extra 
modules for ve//
//rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-42.62  amd64        Linux kernel extra 
modules for ve//
//rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-43.63  amd64        Linux kernel extra 
modules for ve//
//rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-45.66  amd64        Linux kernel extra 
modules for ve//
//rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-47.68  amd64        Linux kernel extra 
modules for ve//
//ii  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-51.72  amd64        Linux kernel extra 
modules for ve//
//ii  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-53.74  amd64        Linux kernel extra 
modules for ve//
//ii  linux-image-ge 4.4.0.53.56  amd64        Generic Linux kernel image//
//un  linux-initramf <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-kernel-h <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-kernel-l <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//ii  linux-libc-dev 4.4.0-53.74  amd64        Linux Kernel Headers for 
developm//
//un  linux-restrict <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//ii  linux-sound-ba 1.0.25+dfsg- all          base package for ALSA and 
OSS sou//
//un  linux-source-4 <none>       <none> (no description available)//
//un  linux-tools    <none>       <none> (no description available)/

Is it just me… I had Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, before I upgraded to Ubuntu
Mate 16.04 LTS, on both my PC and laptop for over two and a half years
and went around telling everyone how easy, even with no geeky Linux
experience behind me, it was to use and trouble free.In all that time it
never even missed a single bootup…or is it Ubuntu Mate… I also
,regrettably went ahead and put Mate on my Laptop and now that no longer
works as it did under Ubuntu as the Wifi is disabled and greyed out -
but it dual boots with XP where the wifi works fine!..still thats
another matter…

Ah well lets go and tackle my pc woes!!!

Once again many thanks for getting back to me.

Best Regards.

Hmmmm

You have a bit of a mix going on. My guess is that your upgrade to your current install had a hiccup or two.

So lets start with some maintenance commands and see how much that will clean up. With any luck this will remove the extra kernel packages you have.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y && sudo dpkg --configure -a && sudo apt -f install &&  sudo apt autoremove && sudo apt autoclean

And run the above dpkg -l linux* command again. Should be cleaned up now.
Most of these commands can be found in the Welcome Center.

Lets also have a look at your system, please post the output of:

inxi -br

If you get any errors (not warnings) please post them.

Hi there again,

I have managed to get the system and my two monitors up and booting
every time …so far… What I did was disconnect each item of hardware
(fdd,data hdd, sata optical and ide optical,second monitor) and found it
booted with just my ‘system drive’. I then connected each item
individually and rebooted each time. I found for some reason that my IDE
optical drive seemed to make the system boot to black screens which then
went to sleep but the fans kept running. I know it’s probably a very
‘newbie’ approach but it seems to have helped. The drive that has been
disconnected is quite old and may well have malfunctioned.

I have also run your long terminal command and here is the new output
from “-l linux*” :

:~$ dpkg -l linux*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| 
Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name           Version      Architecture Description
ii  linux-base     4.0ubuntu1   all          Linux image base package
un  linux-doc-4.4. <none>       <none>       (no description available)
ii  linux-firmware 1.157.5      all          Firmware for Linux kernel 
drivers
ii  linux-generic  4.4.0.53.56  amd64        Complete Generic Linux 
kernel and
un  linux-headers  <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>       <none>       (no description available)
ii  linux-headers- 4.4.0-51.72  all          Header files related to 
Linux ker
ii  linux-headers- 4.4.0-51.72  amd64        Linux kernel headers for 
version
ii  linux-headers- 4.4.0-53.74  all          Header files related to 
Linux ker
ii  linux-headers- 4.4.0-53.74  amd64        Linux kernel headers for 
version
ii  linux-headers- 4.4.0.53.56  amd64        Generic Linux kernel headers
un  linux-image    <none>       <none>       (no description available)
rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-31.50  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.
rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-34.53  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.
rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-36.55  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.
rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-38.57  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.
rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-42.62  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.
rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-43.63  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.
rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-45.66  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.
rc  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-47.68  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.
ii  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-51.72  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.
ii  linux-image-4. 4.4.0-53.74  amd64        Linux kernel image for 
version 4.
rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-31.50  amd64        Linux kernel extra modules 
for ve
rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-34.53  amd64        Linux kernel extra modules 
for ve
rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-36.55  amd64        Linux kernel extra modules 
for ve
rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-38.57  amd64        Linux kernel extra modules 
for ve
rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-42.62  amd64        Linux kernel extra modules 
for ve
rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-43.63  amd64        Linux kernel extra modules 
for ve
rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-45.66  amd64        Linux kernel extra modules 
for ve
rc  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-47.68  amd64        Linux kernel extra modules 
for ve
ii  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-51.72  amd64        Linux kernel extra modules 
for ve
ii  linux-image-ex 4.4.0-53.74  amd64        Linux kernel extra modules 
for ve
ii  linux-image-ge 4.4.0.53.56  amd64        Generic Linux kernel image
un  linux-initramf <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-kernel-h <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-kernel-l <none>       <none>       (no description available)
ii  linux-libc-dev 4.4.0-53.74  amd64        Linux Kernel Headers for 
developm
un  linux-restrict <none>       <none>       (no description available)
ii  linux-sound-ba 1.0.25+dfsg- all          base package for ALSA and 
OSS sou
un  linux-source-4 <none>       <none>       (no description available)
un  linux-tools    <none>       <none>       (no description available)

For your additional information I had already tried the software fixes
that your screenshot from the Software Boutique but they made no
difference to the boot / black screens issues.

As requested here is the output from “inxi -br”

~$ inxi -br
System:    Host: stng Kernel: 4.4.0-53-generic x86_64 (64 bit)
            Desktop: MATE 1.12.1  Distro: Ubuntu 16.04 xenial
Machine:   Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 v: Rev X.0x
            Bios: American Megatrends v: 2301 date: 08/09/2012
CPU:       Quad core AMD Phenom II X4 965 (-MCP-) speed/max: 800/3400 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RV770 [Radeon HD 4850]
            Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: 
fbdev,vesa)
            Resolution: [email protected], [email protected]
            GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV770 (DRM 2.43.0, LLVM 3.8.0)
            GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 11.2.0
Network:   Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
Controller
            driver: r8169
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1123.1GB (1.9% used)
Repos:     Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list
            deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial main restricted
            deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-updates main 
restricted
            deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial universe
            deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-updates universe
            deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial multiverse
            deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-updates 
multiverse
            deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ xenial-backports 
main restricted universe multiverse
            deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security main 
restricted
            deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security universe
            deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security multiverse
            Active apt sources in file: 
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/gezakovacs-ubuntu-ppa-xenial.list
            deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gezakovacs/ppa/ubuntu xenial main
            Active apt sources in file: 
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/libreoffice-ubuntu-ppa-xenial.list
            deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/libreoffice/ppa/ubuntu xenial main
            deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/libreoffice/ppa/ubuntu 
xenial main
            Active apt sources in file: 
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-mate-dev-ubuntu-welcome-xenial.list
            deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mate-dev/welcome/ubuntu 
xenial main
            deb-src 
http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mate-dev/welcome/ubuntu xenial main
Info:      Processes: 195 Uptime: 17 min Memory: 678.5/3951.3MB
            Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.2.35

Once again thank you so much for your help in getting this resolved.

Best Regards.

IMO an excellent piece of trouble shooting :slight_smile:

I am not familiar with ASUS bios, but I would look in there for a way to stop your optical drive from booting at system start up.

I think you will still have kernel problems in the future and since that long command did not work as expected it will be necessary to manually clean your system.

Your sources look good. Are you aware of the change for AMD drivers between 14.04 and 16.04?

If it was me, I would not be happy with just repairing this. I would instead opt for a fresh install.

Whats your thoughts?

PS
To use code tags highlight the code and then click on...

Hi again v3xx,

Just for your info:

  1. Both my monitors are being correctly identified and set to the
    correct resolutions - something I was a bit concerned about after
    reading the article about ATI issues and upgrades to 16.04. Maybe I am
    lucky and that a ‘fix’ has been introduced. I did wait for a few months
    before I took the plunge to 16.04 LTS.

  2. I have removed the optical drives from the boot list as you suggested

  • so far so good!
  1. I am now pleased that it boots every time and as far as I am aware it
    does not seem to be suffering from debris of all the different kernels.

  2. Thanks for the tip about pasted code - just hope I remember next time.

I fully appreciate your comments regarding a ‘fix’ not being the best
way forward - but I have spent so much time with my pc and my laptop
following the switch to 16.04 Mate that I feel I cannot afford the
luxury of time for a fresh install at the moment…Christmas break
seems like a good idea!!! For the time being I will stick my head in
the sand and hope for the best - repeating ‘If it aint broken dont fix
it!’… but yes it will play on my mind in the immediate future…

Ah well now for the that grayed out wifi with no connectivity on my
laptop!!! - Never a dull moment…As I close one query …I open
another…

Once again many many thanks for your time and help.

My Very Best Regards to you.

matebod.

ps

1 Like

Very good matebod

When you have the time please still use synaptic to clean up (remove) those extras.

As I believe were done for now, I have marked your thread solved.

Till we meet again

:wave:

Hi @matebod,

take a look here too as it has info for removing kernels:

http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2016/05/remove-old-kernels-ubuntu-16-04/

1 Like

Hi wolfman,
Many thanks for your interest - I think it will be very helpful and Iwill add it to my reference folder.
Thanks and regards,
matebod

1 Like