Latest Kernel Installed, but Old One Still Remains

[Amorgan]

Hello all:

I'm using Fedora core 17 running from a USB drive.
The issue I have is that whenever I run a system update, it installs the latest kernel updates, but after performing a "uname -r" to confirm if latest version was installed, it still shows ver. 3.3.4-5.fc17.x86_64 which is the old version that was installed on my USB drive.

What can i do to have the latest kernel version running?

Thanks in advance for any help provided.

[marko]

You need to reboot. The new kernel can't just load while the system is running.

The installation process changes the grub file so that upon the next reboot, the new kernel should be the default one that loads. But the previous two kernels should be still available in one of the grub menus

[Amorgan]

Originally Posted by marko

You need to reboot. The new kernel can't just load while the system is running.

The installation process changes the grub file so that upon the next reboot, the new kernel should be the default one that loads. But the previous two kernels should be still available in one of the grub menus

I've done that several times but it doesn't works. After rebooting the computer, it still shows the old kernel.
Kernel updates are installed on my USB stick, but for some odd reason, it's still pointing to old kernel.
Does anyone else have the same issue with Fedora being installed on thumb drives?

[marko]

Try to show they even installed properly:

reboot, and when the grub menu shows, use the arrow key to select "Advanced Options for Fedora" and manually select the kernel you think is new one you just got via the update. If that boots okay, then the problem is that the grub configuration didn't get updated to make the new kernel the default

[Amorgan]

Originally Posted by marko

Try to show they even installed properly:

reboot, and when the grub menu shows, use the arrow key to select "Advanced Options for Fedora" and manually select the kernel you think is new one you just got via the update. If that boots okay, then the problem is that the grub configuration didn't get updated to make the new kernel the default

1) Once I press F12 on my computer to chose which drive I want to boot, I select my USb disk drive.

2) GRUB only gives me 2 choices on the main screen: 1) boot Fedora 17 and 2) Troubleshooting (There's a command line menu that you can access if you press the TAB key, but that's all).

3) On advanced options (Troubleshooting menu), I have the following: Run Memtest, Start fedora 17 in basic mode and go back to main menu.

There's no option for me to chose which kernel I want to boot from.

[marko]

Probably there are two different grubs installed, one on the USB and one on the hard drive, when you use the F12 button, it goes straight to the usb partition. But the new kernel is associated with the grub on the hard drive. Is there another drive besides the usb one?

[Amorgan]

Originally Posted by marko

Probably there are two different grubs installed, one on the USB and one on the hard drive, when you use the F12 button, it goes straight to the usb partition. But the new kernel is associated with the grub on the hard drive. Is there another drive besides the usb one?

GRUB is not installed on the local machine. I run EVERYTHING from the thumb drive.
F12 is to access the machine's boot options (in this case, a DELL PC). Once I chose which bootable device I want to start, which in this case would be my my thumb drive/USB stick; then I'll see Fedora's welcome screen asking me to start fedora 17 normally, or run Troubleshooting:

[marko]

With the machine booted, try running this and post the results:


rpm -q kernel

[sidebrnz]

Even better: with the machine booted, edit /boot/grub2/grub.cfg (You will need root access to do this.) and change the timeout from 0 to something more sane, such as 5. Now, when you reboot, you'll see the GRUB menu for five seconds before it boots. However, any keypress will stop the timer and give you as much time as you need to select the kernel you want. Alas, this change won't survive the next kernel update, but there are ways around that if you're interested.

[markkuk]

Originally Posted by Amorgan

1) Once I press F12 on my computer to chose which drive I want to boot, I select my USb disk drive.

2) GRUB only gives me 2 choices on the main screen: 1) boot Fedora 17 and 2) Troubleshooting (There's a command line menu that you can access if you press the TAB key, but that's all).

You are running the LiveCD version of fedora. If you want to be able to update and use the system normally you must install it to your hard drive (or another removable media).

[Amorgan]

Thanks guys for the replies. Later on I'll respond to each of your requests since I'm a little busy as of this writing.

To markkuk:
I'm running Fedora-17-x86_64-Live-Desktop installed on my USB stick with LiveUSB Creator. As stated before, it runs/installs/deploys ALL updates (including kernel patches and/or updates), but for some strange reason, it still says that I'm running the old kernel version.

[Amorgan]

OK, I'm back again.

Originally Posted by Marko

With the machine booted, try running this and post the results:


rpm -q kernel

This is what I got:
root@localhost grub2]# rpm -q kernel
kernel-3.3.4-5.fc17.x86_64
kernel-3.5.6-1.fc17.x86_64
kernel-3.6.1-1.fc17.x86_64

And this is what I'm currently running:
[root@localhost grub2]# uname -r
3.3.4-5.fc17.x86_64

Originally Posted by sidebnrz

Even better: with the machine booted, edit /boot/grub2/grub.cfg (You will need root access to do this.) and change the timeout from 0 to something more sane, such as 5. Now, when you reboot, you'll see the GRUB menu for five seconds before it boots. However, any keypress will stop the timer and give you as much time as you need to select the kernel you want. Alas, this change won't survive the next kernel update, but there are ways around that if you're interested.

I did exactly what you suggested, but there's no such file called "grub.cfg" that I can have access and edit it.

This is what it looks like:

[root@localhost /]# dir
bin dev home lib64 media opt root sbin sys usr
boot etc lib lost+found mnt proc run srv tmp var
[root@localhost /]# cd boot
[root@localhost boot]# dir
config-3.3.4-5.fc17.x86_64 initramfs-3.6.1-1.fc17.x86_64.img
config-3.5.6-1.fc17.x86_64 memtest86+-4.20
config-3.6.1-1.fc17.x86_64 System.map-3.3.4-5.fc17.x86_64
efi System.map-3.5.6-1.fc17.x86_64
elf-memtest86+-4.20 System.map-3.6.1-1.fc17.x86_64
grub vmlinuz-3.3.4-5.fc17.x86_64
grub2 vmlinuz-3.5.6-1.fc17.x86_64
initramfs-3.5.6-1.fc17.x86_64.img vmlinuz-3.6.1-1.fc17.x86_64
[root@localhost boot]# cd grub2
[root@localhost grub2]# dir
themes
[root@localhost grub2]#

[sidebrnz]

What is this MS-DOS program dir that you're using? Try using ls, which is a Unix/Linux command.

[markkuk]

Originally Posted by Amorgan

I'm running Fedora-17-x86_64-Live-Desktop installed on my USB stick with LiveUSB Creator.

A LiveUSB desn't use GRUB or the kernels installed on the Live filesystem image for booting. That's why all your kernel updates are ignored. Use the "install to hard disk" progam on the LiveUSB to create a real, updateable Fedora installation.

[Amorgan]

Originally Posted by markkuk

A LiveUSB desn't use GRUB or the kernels installed on the Live filesystem image for booting. That's why all your kernel updates are ignored. Use the "install to hard disk" progam on the LiveUSB to create a real, updateable Fedora installation.

This makes sense.
Thanks!

Now, since all those kernel updates aren't used, how can I delete/remove them from my drive, since they use space?