KERNEL PANIC screen after trying software update -- any suggestions and help?

[Straitsfan]

Hello all --

Tried to do a software update yesterday (I don't do them autmatically, I get notified and then do it) and got the message:

"VFS: unable to mount root fs on unknown block (0,0)."

Was able to fool around and eventually learn how to get to the GRUB screen where I can choose what version. if I choose "Ubuntu, with Linux 6.17.0-14," or "Ubuntu, with Linux 6.17.0-14 (recovery mode)" i get a terminal type screen with lines of text that I don't understand and ending with the same message at the last line as with the pink KERNEL PANIC screen.

If I choose the ""Ubuntu, with Linux 6.14.0-37," I can boot into the desktop and all is well. I can also choose that version with 'recovery mode' but I'm not sure what it does or if I even need to do it.

Is there anyone out there who's familiar with this, and if so can you help me figure out what's going on? I didn't do anything differently than I usually do with an update, so I'm guessing there was a problem with the update itself.

I'd like to just have it boot directly into Ubuntu (with whatever newer updates) than have to go to the GRUB screen).

Please let me know if you need any other info. I think I've given enough, but I never know, and I'm not fluent in Linux command line jargon.

 

[kc1di]

Which version of ubuntu are you using? I suspect that kernel 6.17 is not going to work for you. May be a driver issue or something like that. Recovery mode is used to fix problems and usually enters you into a command line type terminal.

 

[Straitsfan]

Which version of ubuntu are you using? I suspect that kernel 6.17 is not going to work for you. May be a driver issue or something like that. Recovery mode is used to fix problems and usually enters you into a command line type terminal.

Version 24.4.03

 

[Condobloke]

When you get to the grub screen, does tapping the arrow down one click take you to advanced options for 24.4.03 ?

 

[KGIII]

If I choose the ""Ubuntu, with Linux 6.14.0-37," I can boot into the desktop and all is well. I can also choose that version with 'recovery mode' but I'm not sure what it does or if I even need to do it.

The simple route is to just keep doing that until a new kernel is released.

 

[Brickwizard]

Occasionally an update will break some [not all] installations, if you have the grub screen and the ability to roll back to a previous kernel, then do that, it will not cause any harm
Your VFS error is common on Ubuntu and can be fixed [usually] by booting to the last working kernel and running...

sudo update-initramfs -u -k [ add new kernel number here without brackets]
followed by
sudo update-grub
then re-boot

 

[Straitsfan]

Occasionally an update will break some [not all] installations, if you have the grub screen and the ability to roll back to a previous kernel, then do that, it will not cause any harm
Your VFS error is common on Ubuntu and can be fixed [usually] by booting to the last working kernel and running...

sudo update-initramfs -u -k [ add new kernel number here without brackets]
followed by
sudo update-grub
then re-boot

So, just to be clear, if i enter what you've said then it should just use Kernel 6.14.0-37 and I wouldn't have to use the grub menu every time I start the machine, and it will automatically use the older kernel version?

I think I may have done that, but I'll try it again just in case I'm confused.

By the way, I went looking around on other sites and came across some terminal lines and was able to use the newer kernel (I think I may have used the suggestion you gave me in your response) but when it booted up there was no ability to use wifi (there was no wifi icon in the systems menu in the upper right corner of the desktop screen). I was able to use an ethernet plug in, but I'd really like to use the wifi, so if I want to keep the newer kernel version, are you able to offer any advice on how to do that?

Otherwise I can go to the older version.

I'll get back to y'all after I try your suggestion. Thanks very much.

 

[Brickwizard]

what is the chipset of the wi-fi card?

 

[Straitsfan]

not sure, will have to find out how to check that and get back to you.

 

[Straitsfan]

So, just to be clear, if i enter what you've said then it should just use Kernel 6.14.0-37 and I wouldn't have to use the grub menu every time I start the machine, and it will automatically use the older kernel version?

I think I may have done that, but I'll try it again just in case I'm confused.

By the way, I went looking around on other sites and came across some terminal lines and was able to use the newer kernel (I think I may have used the suggestion you gave me in your response) but when it booted up there was no ability to use wifi (there was no wifi icon in the systems menu in the upper right corner of the desktop screen). I was able to use an ethernet plug in, but I'd really like to use the wifi, so if I want to keep the newer kernel version, are you able to offer any advice on how to do that?

Otherwise I can go to the older version.

I'll get back to y'all after I try your suggestion. Thanks very much.

ok i entered the command line commands you put in your post but it didn't work. It still boots into kernel 6.17.0-14.

Did I do something wrong?

 

[Straitsfan]

what is the chipset of the wi-fi card?

Okay -- sorry for the delay. I think this is it if the info i came across is correct.

lspci -knn | grep -iA 3 net

00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection [8086:10ea] (rev 05)
DeviceName: Onboard LAN
Subsystem: Dell Latitude E6510 [1028:040b]
Kernel driver in use: e1000e
--
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4353] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Dell Wireless 1520 Half-size Mini PCIe Card [1028:000e]
Kernel modules: bcma
03:00.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Ricoh Co Ltd CardBus bridge [1180:e476] (rev 02)


Does this make any sense?

 

[Brickwizard]

Yes you have an old dell with a Broadcom WIfi,
make sure your machine can connect to the internet
open software manager, and type Broadcom, select B43-fwcutter and install, it should find the exact BCM 43 series chipset and install the correct drivers

 

[Straitsfan]

Yes you have an old dell with a Broadcom WIfi,
make sure your machine can connect to the internet
open software manager, and type Broadcom, select B43-fwcutter and install, it should find the exact BCM 43 series chipset and install the correct drivers

Okay -- now I've got another problem. I was fooling around eariler and must have done something -- now the older kernel, 6.14.0-37 doesn't have wifi either. Should I do the same with that one?

As well, there is no software manager -- unless it's going by another name. If it's the app center, when I type in Broadcom there are no results.

Another update -- was looking around and found this in the software update window. I took a screenshot of it:

Is this what you were looking for? Because when I click on it and try "Apply changes" I get this error message:

 

[GatorsFan]

You have to enter the Advanced options in the Grub menu to select the kernel you want
Immediately after the motherboard / computer manufacturer logo splash screen appears when the computer is booting, with BIOS, quickly press and hold the Shift key, which will bring up the GNU GRUB menu. (If you see the Ubuntu logo, you've missed the point where you can enter the GRUB menu.) With UEFI press (perhaps several times) the Esc key to get to the GRUB menu.
The timing when to press the left Shift key can be tricky, so sometimes if you miss it you need to try it again.
From the GRUB screen select Advanced options for Ubuntu and press Enter
A new purple screen will appear showing a list of kernels, which includes options of booting the kernels normally or in recovery mode.Select your kernel and press Enter

 

[Straitsfan]

You have to enter the Advanced options in the Grub menu to select the kernel you want
Immediately after the motherboard / computer manufacturer logo splash screen appears when the computer is booting, with BIOS, quickly press and hold the Shift key, which will bring up the GNU GRUB menu. (If you see the Ubuntu logo, you've missed the point where you can enter the GRUB menu.) With UEFI press (perhaps several times) the Esc key to get to the GRUB menu.
The timing when to press the left Shift key can be tricky, so sometimes if you miss it you need to try it again.
From the GRUB screen select Advanced options for Ubuntu and press Enter
A new purple screen will appear showing a list of kernels, which includes options of booting the kernels normally or in recovery mode.Select your kernel and press Enter

Yes, I understand all of that. That's not my problem. I have two kernel versions, neither of which have WiFi. Before version 6.17 was installed, I had version 6.14.0-37, which did have WiFi. But I did something today that also 'deletd' it from that version. I don't know what I did, and I can't seem to find anything out there to help me figure out what's wrong, or how to get back whatever is missing that made the WiFi work in the past.

 

[Straitsfan]

Yes, I understand all of that. That's not my problem. I have two kernel versions, neither of which have WiFi. Before version 6.17 was installed, I had version 6.14.0-37, which did have WiFi. But I did something today that also 'deletd' it from that version. I don't know what I did, and I can't seem to find anything out there to help me figure out what's wrong, or how to get back whatever is missing that made the WiFi work in the past.

I

Okay -- now I've got another problem. I was fooling around eariler and must have done something -- now the older kernel, 6.14.0-37 doesn't have wifi either. Should I do the same with that one?

As well, there is no software manager -- unless it's going by another name. If it's the app center, when I type in Broadcom there are no results.

Another update -- was looking around and found this in the software update window. I took a screenshot of it:

Is this what you were looking for? Because when I click on it and try "Apply changes" I get this error message:

I FIXED IT!!!!!

I took a look at the specs on the broadcom WiFi hardware I sent you in my previous post, and entered that into firefox seeking a download. The answer came back with some commands in terminal. I was reading through it and saw some error messages, and thought I had failed again. But when I rebooted the WiFi icon came up and it's working!!!!

Here's what I found, if you're interested:

• sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
• Alternatively, use the "Additional Drivers" tool in your desktop environment to select the proprietary Broadcom STA driver.

I tried using that tool in Software Update but kept getting that error message in included in my screenshot.

Thank you for your help. If it weren't for you I wouldn't have thought about doing what I did. I hope I wasn't too annoying or asking dumb questions.

 

[Straitsfan]

Hello again --

My previous success with this was restoring the wifi to kernel version 6.14.0-37. I tried it for kernel version 6.17.0-14 but no success.

When I entered the commands to try to restore or install the WiFi this is what I got:

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
bcmwl-kernel-source is already the newest version (6.30.223.271+bdcom-23ubuntu1.1).
The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:
libllvm19
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove it.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
2 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Setting up broadcom-sta-dkms (6.30.223.271-23ubuntu1.1) ...
Removing old broadcom-sta-6.30.223.271 DKMS files...
Deleting module broadcom-sta-6.30.223.271 completely from the DKMS tree.
Loading new broadcom-sta-6.30.223.271 DKMS files...
Building for 6.17.0-14-generic
Building initial module for 6.17.0-14-generic
ERROR: Cannot create report: [Errno 17] File exists: '/var/crash/broadcom-sta-dkms.0.crash'
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 6.17.0-14-generic (x86_64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/broadcom-sta/6.30.223.271/build/make.log for more information.
dpkg: error processing package broadcom-sta-dkms (--configure):
installed broadcom-sta-dkms package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 10
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of bcmwl-kernel-source:
bcmwl-kernel-source depends on broadcom-sta-dkms (= 6.30.223.271-23ubuntu1.1); however:
Package broadcom-sta-dkms is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package bcmwl-kernel-source (--configure):
dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous failure.
Errors were encountered while processing:
broadcom-sta-dkms
bcmwl-kernel-source
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)


Can anyone make sense of this and lend any advice as to what I can do to get the WiFi working with this kernel version?

 

[kc1di]

It looks like there is a missing dependency for the sta package in Kernel 6.17. If it was working with 6.14 you should just use that kernel. 6.17 DKMS may not have been updated for the broadcom driver yet.

 

[Straitsfan]

Okay -- suddenly I don't have WiFi again. Went to my mother's house to stay with her for the weekend. Turned on the machine, kernel version 6.14.0-37, and no WiFi, even thought It was working a few days before.

Am able to plug in with a cable and get Internet.

so -- any suggestions as to what has happened? I tried using the above commands in my previous post, but it didn't change anything.

I've been fooling around a bit, and went in to install the proprietary driver for the broadcom WiFi. Got this message when I tried to install it:

Does this mean anything?

 

[Straitsfan]

Another Update --

I decided to get rid of kernel 6.17 altogether; went online and did it. Now I only have kernel 6.14 -- and what do you know, my WiFi is back.

I thought that maybe having the newer kernel was interfering with it, and it seems I'm right. At least for now. I'm going to do a reboot (power -off/power on, whatever ) and see if i'm right.

Seems I fixed it again . Wifi is back, and also can get wired if I plug in an ethernet cable.

Any comments/observations are welcome.

I'm staying away from this newer kernel for now.