12.04.2 alternate won't install over preseeded network

[Landon Thomas]

I'm using the 'linux' kernel and initrd.gz files extracted from ubuntu-12.04.2-alternate-amd64.iso for our preseeded PXE installer that points our a local, up-to-date repository. 12.04 works fine but when trying to update our install system to 12.04.2 to support new hardware, the kernel version used in the installer, 3.5.0-23-generic, does not have available packages. I get the "No kernel modules were found." error and "WARNING **: no packages matching running kernel 3.5.0-23-generic in archive" in syslog.

I think I've found the cause. When I run:

zgrep '3.5.0-23' Packages.gz

within the file structure of the mounted ubuntu-12.04.2-alternate-amd64.iso, see plenty of package references to kernel version 3.5.0-23:

thom1576@goliath (/export/scratch/thom1576/precise64/cd-precise64-12.04.2/dists/precise/main/binary-amd64) % mount | grep iso
/export/scratch/isos/ubuntu-12.04.2-alternate-amd64.iso on /export/scratch/thom1576/precise64/cd-precise64-12.04.2 type iso9660 (ro)
thom1576@goliath (/export/scratch/thom1576/precise64/cd-precise64-12.04.2/dists/precise/main/binary-amd64) % zgrep '3.5.0-23' Packages.gz
Package: linux-headers-3.5.0-23-generic
Version: 3.5.0-23.35~precise1
Depends: linux-headers-3.5.0-23, libc6 (>= 2.14)
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-lts-quantal/linux-headers-3.5.0-23-generic_3.5.0-23.35~precise1_amd64.deb
 /usr/share/doc/linux-lts-quantal-headers-3.5.0-23/debian.README.gz for details.
Package: linux-headers-3.5.0-23
Version: 3.5.0-23.35~precise1
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-lts-quantal/linux-headers-3.5.0-23_3.5.0-23.35~precise1_all.deb
 /usr/share/doc/linux-lts-quantal-headers-3.5.0-23/debian.README.gz for details
Package: linux-image-3.5.0-23-generic
Version: 3.5.0-23.35~precise1
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-lts-quantal/linux-image-3.5.0-23-generic_3.5.0-23.35~precise1_amd64.deb
Depends: linux-headers-3.5.0-23-generic
Depends: linux-image-3.5.0-23-generic, linux-firmware
-----

However, when I do the same against the current, up-to-date Packages.gz file: http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/precise-proposed/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz I see no references to kernel version 3.5.0-23. I only see 3.5.0-24 and higher:

thom1576@goliath (/home/thom1576) % zgrep '3.5.0-23' Packages.gz
thom1576@goliath (/home/thom1576) % zgrep '3.5.0-24' Packages.gz
Package: linux-headers-3.5.0-24
Version: 3.5.0-24.37~precise1
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-lts-quantal/linux-headers-3.5.0-24_3.5.0-24.37~precise1_all.deb
Package: linux-headers-3.5.0-24-generic
Version: 3.5.0-24.37~precise1
Depends: linux-headers-3.5.0-24, libc6 (>= 2.14)
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-lts-quantal/linux-headers-3.5.0-24-generic_3.5.0-24.37~precise1_amd64.deb
Package: linux-image-3.5.0-24-generic
Version: 3.5.0-24.37~precise1
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-lts-quantal/linux-image-3.5.0-24-generic_3.5.0-24.37~precise1_amd64.deb
Package: linux-signed-image-3.5.0-24-generic
Version: 3.5.0-24.37~precise1
Depends: sbsigntool, linux-image-3.5.0-24-generic (>= 3.5.0-24.37~precise1)
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-signed-lts-quantal/linux-signed-image-3.5.0-24-generic_3.5.0-24.37~precise1_amd64.deb
Package: linux-tools-3.5.0-24
Version: 3.5.0-24.37~precise1
Filename: pool/main/l/linux-lts-quantal/linux-tools-3.5.0-24_3.5.0-24.37~precise1_amd64.deb
Description: Linux kernel version specific tools for version 3.5.0-24

Since the kernel packages and modules for version 3.5.0-23 are unavailable in the official Packages.gz repository file, preseeded PXE installations for 12.04.2 via a repository mirror are impossible.

[Landon Thomas (lthomas)]

This can be closed. I fixed the problem by adding a precise-updates tree via apt-ftparchive. debian-installer/anna was finding old udeb's in precise rather than the new kernel modules in precise-updates.