Ubuntu
grub package

How to show other installed kernels?

Asked by Steve White

Hi!

I want to set the switch that causes grub to show all installed kernels, but... I can't find it!
It's crazy! This used to be easy!

Scenario: I've been messing with modules etc, and in the previous kernel version I had everything working.
I did an update, networking won't work. I spend hours.
Then ... oh well, I need to do some real work, I'll just switch back to the other kernel until I get more time.

But... the grub.cfg is total spaghetti, and moreover warns not to touch it.
The /etc/default/grub file has a bunch of switches that aren't of any use at all on my system,
and /etc/grub.d/* is all spags, no meatballs!

What am I missing here? I looked and looked for the setting
GRUB_SHOW_PREVIOUS_KERNELS
which would be 0 by default, but easly set to 1 or more.

Where is it?

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Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Hold SHIFT at boot, Grub will show

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N1ck 7h0m4d4k15 (nicktux) said : 		#2

Hold SHIFT button during PC boot until Grub loaded.
Then go to Previous Linux Versions (or Advanced options for Ubuntu) and you will see the other kernels.

After you successfully boot into an older and worked kernel , REMOVE the newer and problematic kernel so you don't need to do the same procedure every time.

Regards
 NikTh

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Steve White (stevan-white) said : 		#3

Hi guys! You both missed the point, somehow.

I was looking right at GRUB (as I said.)
Nothing was wrong with either kernel (the problem was with a driver -- I finally fixed that, thanks!)

GRUB has gone downhill in a sense in recent releases of Ubuntu.

SOME YEARS AGO
it presented a simple, easily configurable file, which controlled what was displayed in its menu.
The complaint was, this file often got out of synch with new system releases.
And there is a drive to make the system more automatic, so there is no need to configure anything.
Unfortunately, this has been taken to the extreme of removing the option of user configuration.

NOW
The single, simple configuration file is replaced by a tangle of shell scripts. It has gone from
    configurable, if a little clumsy
to
    sure, it's configurabl! Just write your own tangle of incomprehensible shell script spaghetti!

You smart guys really ought to come up with a solution to this.
Give an advanced user the *option* of producing their own GRUB menu (short of writing shell scripts),
while at the same time making it consistent with current kernels.

There is a way.

Revision history for this message
Visa and Immigrations (visaandimmigrations) said : 		#4

To display a list of other installed kernels on a Linux system, you can use the following command:
$ dpkg --list | grep linux-image
This command will show a list of installed Linux kernel images, and you can identify the installed kernels along with their versions.

https://www.zupyak.com/p/3971340/t/exploring-the-educational-landscape-navigating-policy-changes-for-international-students-in-canada-2024

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