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On Monday, 14 November 2022 21:05:57 GMT Dale wrote: |
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> Thing is, I may go a year, sometimes more, without updating the kernel. |
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> If I rebooted often, I could see using a LTS kernel. If a kernel can |
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> run for months with no problems, it's stable enough for me. Plus my |
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> hardware works. |
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Keeping the same kernel running for long periods can leave you exposed to |
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security vulnerabilities. Either stable or LTS kernels will be similarly |
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exposed, if their latest backported versions are not booted with. I |
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appreciate you're not running a public server so your profile is not as much |
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at risk, but bad code in some application which hasn't been patched up could |
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still leave you exposed. |
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> I have even built a kernel but never actually booted it. By the time I |
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> get around to rebooting, I've had to build another kernel. I generally |
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> always work from a known stable config tho. The only reason I wouldn't |
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> is if I build a new system and have to start from scratch. I've also |
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> had times when I had to update because my video drivers wouldn't build |
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> with a older kernel version that I'm running. That doesn't happen to |
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> often but I recall running into that at least once. |
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Shutting down your desktop applications and rebooting with a new kernel takes |
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no longer than a couple of minutes. I mean even busy bank customer web |
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portals have planned downtime. |
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> Either way, biggest question was if there was some known breakage |
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> between my old version and a newer version. Maybe the one I tried just |
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> had some weird problem that only affected me or I just missed something |
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> during the oldconfig. I wish I could recall the error. Who knows on |
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> that. |
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> |
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> Thanks. |
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> |
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> Dale |
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> |
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> :-) :-) |
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Did you diff your current good kernel .config and the new failed to boot |
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kernel .config, to find out what options/modules have changed. Besides any |
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booting errors, this could point you to something which was missed in the new |
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kernel, or perhaps shouldn't have been configured. That's how I go about |
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finding the cause of a non-booting kernel in the rare occasions I end up with |
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a lemon. |
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