F11 Updates Don't Boot

Hello,

I'm pretty new to Linux, and have some questions about updating Fedora. I have updates set to download weekly, so every week or so a dialog pops up from the bottom RH corner of my desktop and asks me if I want to install security updates only, all updates, or no updates. I have always chosen the "all updates" option, and next time I boot up, I see the new kernel version in grub. But selecting anything other than my original installation will cause the system to hang before it finished booting.

Right now I've got four or five updated versions and all of them behave exactly the same way. What am I doing wrong? I figure it's got to be me because I've done quite a bit of searching and can't seem to find anyone with the same problem. It seems that the most similar problem is that even the original version stops working...

Any ideas? More info needed?

Thanks,

Kerry

EDIT: I just found this thread (http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...64-bit-737003/), where some other people are apparently experiencing the same problem. I'm running the 32-bit version, but my working kernel version is the same as theirs (-167).

Next time it says it has updates click on the update icon and then choose to review the updates before you choose any or all. Look at the list and see if you can spot the one(s) that are causing the problem. This might or might not help.

There are no solutions for you at that URL.

What causes my system to stall after a kernel update is a missing video driver. To correct that problem I downloaded the NVIDIA drivers package for my 'obsolete' card, the MX 4000.
After each kernel update I set the boot level to 3 in the /etc/inittab file; in F11 that's the only settable entry. Then I reboot, choose the "update" kernel at the GRUB screen, and log in as root at the ASCII screen login prompt.
I then go to the directory that holds the NVIDIA drivers download and run it as a binary command. That particular program will interactively compile a compatible driver, install it in the kernel module load, and edit the X11 xorg.conf file. I then reset the /etc/inittab boot level to 5 and reboot.
So, you may need a 'new' video driver for your video card.
F11 kernel updates do not provide drivers for all the video cards out there. You must add back the driver(s) for yours into the new kernel modules tree.
That involves using the ASCII console at boot level 3, putting the driver module into the proper slot in the /lib/modules tree, running depmod for the video driver module for your card, and editing the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf to correctly boot to your card's driver.
The correct slot is /lib/modules/[kernel number]/kernel/drivers/video/[your video driver] or in a subdirectory, /lib/modules/[kernel number]/kernel/drivers/video/[proper subdirectory]/[your video driver], if that's where your card's drivers are normally kept in the modules tree. Look for the proper driver location in the old kernel modules tree under the same tree formula. If you have a laptop the subdirectory might be .../backlight/... but you must find that out for yourself.
If 'yum list locate' tells you that locate is installed you will easily find where your driver file is using locate. If it isn't installed do a 'sudo yum install locate' and then run 'updatedb' to populate the locate database. Search for your card driver module using 'locate [your driver module] | egrep module' and it should pop right out at you.

Use the 'working' kernel to investigate the modules tree for that and the new kernel. If the video driver for your card or chip is not present search for it on the card or chip maker's site.
It's obvious, if you go through it once, when the video driver is missing; the screen on my system gets the blinking staggers and then stalls completely. Yours probably does something else.