Installing a new Linux kernel in Ubuntu
 

Hi,

I would be grateful for some help with this:

I noticed the other day that I have several Linux kernels installed in my machine but that the machine only boots from the oldest.

I foolishly thought that if I deleted the oldest kernel the machine would default to the next oldest and boot with that.

I deleted the oldest kernel and then ran 'sudo update-grub' and re-booted. On rebooting I got an error message saying that it could not find a kernel (i.e the one I had deleted) and that I was to press any key in order to carry on.

I eventually got it to boot by editing the GRUB boot menu and replacing the kernel version with the latest version. I had thought that having got it to boot with the latest kernel and then doing 'sudo update-grub' it would continue to boot with the latest kernel. It does not, so how can I make it boot with the latest installed kernel?

Any help would be greatly appreciated because I don't want to re-install the deleted kernel and I don't want to edit the boot menu every time I use the machine.

I am running Ubuntu 12.10

Sounds like your GRUB "default" may not be set correctly. Please post your grub.conf/menu.lst.

Is menu.lst still being used? On Debian it is only available in the grub.legacy package.
jdk

OOPS! Yeah, I guess 12.10 would use grub.cfg for GRUB2..

Which kernels do you have and what order are the kernels listed in on the GRUB screen?
It's my experience that the newest appear at the top and the topmost boots by default. However, if you have for some reason installed kernels other than the "normal" you may have a problem because they sort alphanumerically.
Unless you've messed around with your kernels and/or GRUB though it sounds like something has gone amiss and reinstalling GRUB may be in order, perhaps.

Hi,

I am sorry but I have misled you all about my problem. It is not Ubuntu 12.10 that has the problem but Ubuntu 13.04 which is installed on a different hard drive. I was being harassed when I was writing the previous post and had already answered a question to someone who had asked what was installed on my computer and I told them that it was Ubuntu 12.10 and it seems that that is the reason that I put in my post that I was using Ubuntu 12.10.

In answer to your question 273, there are no kernels, apart from Linux-3.8.0-11-generic (which is not on the machine), listed in the GRUB menu, but if I change the 11 to 16 in the GRUB menu it boots with linux-3.8.0-16. The problem is how to make it do that every time without having to edit the GRUB menu and why it is looking for 3.8.9-11.

When I run 'update-grub' linux-3.8.0-16 appears first of all as one of the kernels followed by linux-3.8.0-14 and linux-3.8.0-15.

Are you sure that GRUB isn't listing the kernels from the install on the other hard drive first? That's the only thing I can think of that would prevent the highest number being at the top in your case.