Update-manager fails to update kernel

[keepitsimpleengr]

Binary package hint: update-manager

Noticed kernel version vmlinuz-2.6.35-28 not in /boot/ even though linux-headers-2.6.35-28 was installed.

I expected update manager to keep the latest kernel version updated without manual intervention.

This system is daily updated to be synchronous with another maverick system which does have vmlinuz-2.6.35-28 installed.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: update-manager 1:0.142.23
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-25.44-generic 2.6.32.21+drm33.7
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-25-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sat May 7 09:58:29 2011
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100429)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: update-manager

[keepitsimpleengr (keepitsimpleengineer)]

Today failed to update to linux-image-2.6.35-30-generic

messages shows:
Jun 27 07:44:22 wrksta64 kernel: [ 3851.272575] npviewer.bin[9576]: segfault at 80000000 ip 0000000080000000 sp 00000000ffb651dc error 14
Jun 27 11:48:23 wrksta64 dkms_autoinstaller: nvidia-current (260.19.06): Installing module on kernel 2.6.35-30-generic.
Jun 27 11:48:50 wrksta64 dkms_autoinstaller: nvidia-173 (173.14.28): Installing module on kernel 2.6.35-30-generic.
Jun 27 12:24:33 wrksta64 kernel: Kernel logging (proc) stopped.

[Eliah Kagan (degeneracypressure)]

Information at https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-manager/+question/162951 shows that, for some reason, linux-image-generic is not installed on the affected machine. That metapackage is required for kernels to update (even security updates). It is installed by default on all Ubuntu systems using generic kernels. If you have followed instructions to install a different kernel, they might have had you remove that package, and sometimes people remove it by accident.

If there is a systematic condition in the way Ubuntu works that results in linux-image-generic not being installed by default or spuriously removed, then that would be a bug, but given the above analysis, there is no longer reason to think *this* situation is the result of a bug. So I'm marking this bug Invalid. (See the related questions for instructions in installing linux-image-generic.) In the quite unlikely event that more information comes to light indicating that this is really a bug, its status can always be changed back.

[keepitsimpleengr (keepitsimpleengineer)]

This happened again 2011-11-23.

I installed linux-image-generic.

The update then occurred as expected.

I searched dpkp.log. I discovered this:

:/var/log# cat dpkg.log.12 | grep linux-image-generic
2010-11-25 09:27:41 upgrade linux-image-generic 2.6.35.22.23 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:27:41 status half-configured linux-image-generic 2.6.35.22.23
2010-11-25 09:27:41 status unpacked linux-image-generic 2.6.35.22.23
2010-11-25 09:27:41 status half-installed linux-image-generic 2.6.35.22.23
2010-11-25 09:27:41 status half-installed linux-image-generic 2.6.35.22.23
2010-11-25 09:27:41 status unpacked linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:27:41 status unpacked linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:29:08 configure linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:29:08 status unpacked linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:29:08 status half-configured linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:29:09 status installed linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:53:41 status installed linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:53:41 remove linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:53:41 status half-configured linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:53:41 status half-installed linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:53:41 status config-files linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:53:41 status config-files linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:53:41 status config-files linux-image-generic 2.6.35.23.25
2010-11-25 09:53:41 status not-installed linux-image-generic <none>