[SOLVED]kernel downgrade

[egabo]

Hello,

once upon a time, I had backport media selected and ended up with kernel 5.16.14-1. Since then, I unchecked the backport media and was happy with this kernel...

Since a couple of days, Mageia Update is proposing to update the kernel to 5.15.35-2, which is an older one. How can I safely get back on track with the approved (core releases) kernel updates?

[benmc]

hi

latest kernel from "core updates" is kernel-~-5.15.35-2.mga8, just released in the last few days. this is the current LTS kernel.

your kernel 5.16.14-1.mga8 is from a different series (.16) from the backports repo.
currently kernel-5.17.4-2.mga8 series is available via the backports repo.

if you want this one, just disable core updates repo, enable core backports repo, and run

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urpmi kernel-desktop-latest

then disable core backports and re-enable core updates. and reboot to the new kernel.

[sturmvogel]

Benmc's description will lead to the latest backport kernel, but not to the mainline LTS kernel as requested by the TO.

A downgrade to a lower version is described here:
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/QA_Tips_and_Tricks#Downgrade_a_package_without_removing_half_your_desktop
And here:
https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Mageia_8_Errata#Backports_problems

In the second link it is described that you have to remove backports media completely (or it may pull in packages from backport in again, as it is a known bug).

[doktor5000]

Well... I tried what sturmvogel suggested, e.g. the "urpmi --downgrade {package-name}" command and it responded with:

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[root@localhost ~]# urpmi --downgrade kernel-desktop-5.15.32-1.mga8
The following package has to be removed for others to be upgraded:
kernel-desktop-5.15.32-1.mga8-1-1.mga8.x86_64
 (in order to install kernel-desktop-5.15.32-1.mga8-1-1.mga8.x86_64) (y/N)

Kinda got nervous that it asked me to destroy the very kernel version I wanted to go back to... Hey, I did it for spite (i have a backup on another partition), and ended up with an unbootable system. I also tried the --media and --search-media options: those reported that no such package existed.

For now, I have blacklisted kernel updates: at least I am not missing on any other updates... But surely I did something stupid. Anyone care to point out the obvious thing/step that I missed? Please? Pretty-pretty please?

[Germ]

Install the kernel you want first.

Reboot to that kernel.

Then uninstall any kernels you do not want.

[sturmvogel]

Kinda got nervous that it asked me to destroy the very kernel version I wanted to go back to

Then you had kernel-desktop-5.15.32-1. already running (booted from). If you want to know which kernel you are actual using, type following into a terminal:

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uname -r

[doktor5000]

FWIW, with --downgrade you either specify only the package name (kernel-desktop in this case) or the package name+version that you want to downgrade TO.
I'd also go with the same process as mentioned by Germ.

[egabo]

Well, I gave up on the --downgrade thingy, since I already had the latest approved kernel from core release (5.15.32-1) installed. I then went with Germ's suggestion. Got rid of 3 older kernels and kept the current one (from backport) 5.16.14.1 plus 5.15.32-1.

However, I got stuck at "Checking for new hardware..." when attempting to boot up the 5.15.32-1. After a certain time, I thought that maybe the video drivers did not kick in properly. I rebooted 5.15.32-1 in safe mode, then checked if the Nvidia drivers (I have an Nvidia GTX-1050 card) were there using lsmod: sure enough, they were missing. So I used drakxconf to re-install the proprietary Nvidia drivers, rebooted, and Voilà! And of course, I got rid of this mean backport kernel!

Thanks a bunch guys for your guidance. Again, this one was due to what we call here a 'Code 18 error': the cause of the problem is sitting 18 inches from the keyboard!