Kernel 4.4.0-67-generic = obsolete?

Support & Help Requests
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#1

Hi everybody !
As a complete fan of ubuntu-mate, I wonder why this kernel (4.4.0-67-generic) is always on my machine and seems to be obsolete…
Even though my system is up-to-date:
tof@tof-marie-OptiPlex:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial
Should I install this:
–install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-16.04 xserver-xorg-hwe-16.04 ???
I’m afraid of CVE risks like in this post:


I always check updates in CLI, every time I start my pc…
Am I wrong by this way ?
And what’s you kernel version for ubuntu-MATE 16.04.3 LTS ?
Thanks a lot and apologies for my bad english, I’m french !
Regards,
toftux… :slight_smile:

tof@tof-marie-OptiPlex:~$ sudo inxi -v 1
[sudo] Mot de passe de tof :
System: Host: tof-marie-OptiPlex Kernel: 4.4.0-67-generic x86_64 (64 bit)
Desktop: N/A Distro: Ubuntu 16.04 xenial
CPU: Dual core Intel Core i3-2120 (-HT-MCP-) speed/max: 1599/3300 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller
Display Server: X.org 1.18.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
tty size: 80x24 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Drives: HDD Total Size: 1000.2GB (1.5% used)
Info: Processes: 165 Uptime: 28 min Memory: 782.1/7878.9MB
Client: Shell (sudo) inxi: 2.2.35

tof@tof-marie-OptiPlex:~$ sudo apt dist-upgrade
Lecture des listes de paquets… Fait
Construction de l’arbre des dépendances
Lecture des informations d’état… Fait
Calcul de la mise à jour… Fait
0 mis à jour, 0 nouvellement installés, 0 à enlever et 0 non mis à jour.

#2

You can check what kernels are on your system with the following command:
ls /boot/vm*

in my pc I got:
/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-87-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-89-generic

If the new kernels are listed, check your grub menu.

If you have a boot partition, you may be running out of space.
If you have a lot of old kernels you can purge the old ones using:
sudo apt-get autoremove
or using this script from Dustin Kirkland: http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2016/06/purge-old-kernels.html

2 Likes
#3

Hi @toftux,

Something is keeping your kernel from updating. For your installation of 16.04, kernel 4.4.0-89 is current and you have 4.4.0-67 which dates to March 2017.

(A note to others that see a 4.8 or later kernel, don’t worry. For some reason recent images do this… :rage:)

The main package responsible for upgrading the kernel is linux-generic. This is a dummy package that can be removed but the result is your kernel won’t update - just like you see. I suggest installing it and see what happens. Don’t follow through if you get errors:

sudo apt install linux-generic

If it was not installed (which I suspect) it will trigger a kernel update (which takes a while). If you get an error, report it here.

1 Like
#4

@toftux, I just want to set your mind at ease. As long as 16.04 LTS is supported, the kernels will always get important updates. The 4.4.0 kernel is fully maintained now for 16.04 LTS as described in the article you mentioned.

The problem is extra complexity to keep an LTS version like 16.04 updated for newer hardware. This is where HWE comes in described here:

Later ISO images of 16.04 LTS do use the HWE version which is currently at 4.10.0.

Anyone can change over to this later kernel if needed but if your system is working fine I wouldn’t recommend it. Again, full support comes either way.

Hope this helps your HWE question.

2 Likes
#5

Hi gaddub,

A great ‘‘thank you’’ for help :slight_smile: !

I didn’t know the magic command ls /boot/vm*

before -> /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-66-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-67-generic

after -> /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-67-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-89-generic

That’s all OK now, this ease my fear of eventual CVE !!!

In fact, I took the time for reading the Dustion Kirlkland blog, and my /boot seems to be OK:

tof@tof-marie-OptiPlex:~$ ls -lh /boot
total 97M

I just made all CLI commands:

sudo apt install && sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade && sudo apt dist-upgrade

sudo apt autoclean && sudo apt clean && sudo apt autoremove && sudo apt autoremove --purge

and finally:

sudo apt install linux-generic

And it works !!!

Thank you so much !!!

A so happy toftux :slight_smile:

1 Like
#6

Hi Bill_MI !

As I mentioned ahead for gabdub, I’m really happy and want to thank you very much for your help !

In fact, the ‘’ sudo apt install linux-generic ‘’ is magic !!!

The result is (after a reboot and a complete autoremove && autoremove --purge) :slight_smile:

tof@tof-marie-OptiPlex:~$ uname -r
4.4.0-89-generic

:slight_smile: :sunny:

For the new HWE stack system, I prefer to stay on the 4.4 lts kernel, consider a study-time for a linux amateur like me !

So, thank you so much and so glad to be in a such amazing community !

You rule !

Kind regards,

toftux :slight_smile:

#7

The HWE question is well explained in you link Bill_MI, thanks !

In fact, this DELL Optiplex 390 is a pc for the whole family, we want security & stability. So I decided to keep the 4.4 kernel.

And ubuntu-MATE is our favourite distro !

For my laptop (DELL Latitude e6410), I took the choice of kubuntu-backports: it’s a 16.04.3 lts release ; and I’m aware that the 4.10 kernel may cause bugs in the future, but for now, the HWE stack run very well.

Ubuntu & Canonical are very amazing, and official flavours give a so huge choice !

So, thank you so much Bill, U-M community rules !!!

Kind regards,

toftux :slight_smile: