Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Upgrading from 5.14 to 6.0 version

[Michael <confabulate@kintzios.com>]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2102 bytes --]

On Monday, 14 November 2022 21:05:57 GMT Dale wrote:

> Thing is, I may go a year, sometimes more, without updating the kernel. 
> If I rebooted often, I could see using a LTS kernel.  If a kernel can
> run for months with no problems, it's stable enough for me.  Plus my
> hardware works.

Keeping the same kernel running for long periods can leave you exposed to 
security vulnerabilities.  Either stable or LTS kernels will be similarly 
exposed, if their latest backported versions are not booted with.  I 
appreciate you're not running a public server so your profile is not as much 
at risk, but bad code in some application which hasn't been patched up could 
still leave you exposed.


> I have even built a kernel but never actually booted it.  By the time I
> get around to rebooting, I've had to build another kernel.  I generally
> always work from a known stable config tho.  The only reason I wouldn't
> is if I build a new system and have to start from scratch.  I've also
> had times when I had to update because my video drivers wouldn't build
> with a older kernel version that I'm running.  That doesn't happen to
> often but I recall running into that at least once. 

Shutting down your desktop applications and rebooting with a new kernel takes 
no longer than a couple of minutes.  I mean even busy bank customer web 
portals have planned downtime.


> Either way, biggest question was if there was some known breakage
> between my old version and a newer version.  Maybe the one I tried just
> had some weird problem that only affected me or I just missed something
> during the oldconfig.  I wish I could recall the error.  Who knows on
> that. 
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Dale
> 
> :-)  :-) 

Did you diff your current good kernel .config and the new failed to boot 
kernel .config, to find out what options/modules have changed.  Besides any 
booting errors, this could point you to something which was missed in the new 
kernel, or perhaps shouldn't have been configured.  That's how I go about 
finding the cause of a non-booting kernel in the rare occasions I end up with 
a lemon.

[-- Attachment #2: This is a digitally signed message part. --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 833 bytes --]