How To Roll Back A Kernel In Linux Mint 21.1.

[bob466]

Sometimes installing a new Kernel from the Update Manager could result in things not working correctly...this has only happened to me once years ago...lucky me.

It's very handy to know how to roll back a Kernel...just in case. My notes were from years ago...so I Re-wrote them for Mint Cinnamon 21.1 but will work for other Mints too.

1. Restart holding or tapping the Shift Key down which brings up the Grub Menu...the top Kernel is the one installed.

2. Select Advanced Options and select older Kernel...hit Enter...computer will boot to the Desktop...you now have the old Kernel installed.

3.Go to Update manager...View...Linux Kernels...Continue...you’ll see...5.19 and 5.15.

4. Go to 5.15...select Kernel 5.15.0-60 Active and click...Remove...once done the computer will boot to the previous Kernel...if you don’t remove Kernel 5.15.0-60 the computer will always boot to it.

This shows the latest Kernel installed.

Go to 5.15 you'll see the active Kernel.

Once you roll back the Kernel you'll see this.

Now you need to remove the active Kernel...just click Remove.

Wait till finished...now you're running the previous Kernel...you just have to wait for the next Kernel to be offered...to check what Kernel is active...run this command.

uname -r

Some may say just use Timeshift to "roll back" but what if it's not the new Kernel causing the problem...if you roll back the Kernel and the problem is still there at least you know.

 

[z7vl7abxc]

1. Restart holding the Shift Key down which brings up the Grub Menu...the top Kernel is the one installed.

in your experience does it matter if it is the left or right shift key? i haven't tried it often myself.

 

[xlbooyahlx]

in your experience does it matter if it is the left or right shift key? i haven't tried it often myself.

That has never worked for me, the left shift + f8 IIRC??

 

[bob466]

in your experience does it matter if it is the left or right shift key? i haven't tried it often myself.

Both work but you must start tapping the Shift key...holding it down doesn't work.

That has never worked for me, the left shift + f8 IIRC??

What ever works for you...tapping the shift key worked for me on two different motherboards one Legacy and now UEFI...booting to the Boot Menu wasn't the same...one was F12 and the other F11...such is life.

 

[z7vl7abxc]

Both work but you must start tapping the Shift key...holding it down doesn't work.

thank you for the added info.

That has never worked for me, the left shift + f8 IIRC??

i have never found it to be easy to time it correctly or consistent is part of why i asked. it also came up in a thread with a newer user today (https://www.linux.org/threads/internet-connection-problem.46373/#post-202725) and i found myself wishing there was an easier way to get it to work or explain it since it can be a helpful troubleshooting technique.

on one of my systems, i have taken to using grub-reboot just because it is quicker and more consistent, but explaining that to a newer user would also take some work.

 

[xlbooyahlx]

i have never found it to be easy to time it correctly

Understandable for certain

 

[xlbooyahlx]

Both work but you must start tapping the Shift key...holding it down doesn't work.

What ever works for you...tapping the shift key worked for me on two different motherboards one Legacy and now UEFI...booting to the Boot Menu wasn't the same...one was F12 and the other F11...such is life.

or esc, or del, F2, F9, etc depending on the manufacturer

 

[bob466]

thank you for the added info.

You're welcome...you may never need to roll back a Kernel but it's handy to know just in case. I last did it back in Mint 18.3...everything looks hard at first but you get use to it after a while...just like me getting use to UEFI after 10.5 years of Legacy.

or esc, or del, F2, F9, etc depending on the manufacturer

Exactly.

 

[KGIII]

It looks like people may be conflating accessing the UEFI/BIOS with accessing the GRUB menu.

For the latter, the only keys that (should) work would be SHIFT (for BIOS/Legacy) and ESC for UEFI. It's a GRUB thing. As near as I know, either SHIFT key will work.

I do with this site supported <kbd>ESC</kbd> or similar. We do support some markdown, but not that. I'm not even sure if that's part of the markdown spec, but a few places have the option to do so. I do on my site but that was a bit of work to get running.