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I finally created an account here !

I have a 2015 macbook pro running Ubuntu 16.04, with the kernel 4.4.0-72-generic. I have been using this computer on linux for about two years and I don't understand why I don't have kernel updates anymore.

I installed Ukuu and it tells me that the last version available is 4.14.4 ! Is this normal ? I used to have every.. two weeks ? a severall hundred MB update of the linux headers and image but now I don't get any of that for months.

I can't seem to understand since when or why this happens.

The command I use to look for update is : sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade && sudo apt clean

When searching on this site I stumbled upon this : Why is apt no longer updating the kernel?

No of the proposed fix worked :

  • sudo apt-get install linux returned E: Unable to locate package linux

  • sudo apt-get install linux-generic returned linux-generic is already the newest version (4.4.0.72.78).

  • sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic returned linux-image-generic is already the newest version (4.4.0.72.78).

  • sudo apt-get dist-upgrade returns 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

I think it might have to do with this one time I used ukuu to install a recent kernel but everything crash so I think I ended up manually returning to the old one, but it was such a long time ago I'm not sure that was it.

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  • 1
    Something is wrong with your system. The latest 4.4 kernel is 4.4.0.103.108. Please post the output of apt-cache policy linux-generic.
    – Pilot6
    Dec 10, 2017 at 10:10
  • It gives : linux-generic: Installed: 4.4.0.72.78 Candidate: 4.4.0.72.78 Version table: *** 4.4.0.72.78 100 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status 4.4.0.21.22 500 500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages
    – J. Doe
    Dec 10, 2017 at 16:14
  • It looks lile xenial-updates is not turned on.
    – Pilot6
    Dec 11, 2017 at 13:18

2 Answers 2

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It looks like xenial-updates and xenial-security are not turned on in "Software & Updates". Turn it on there. It should show

apt-cache policy linux-generic
linux-generic:
  Installed: 4.4.0.103.108
  Candidate: 4.4.0.103.108
  Version table:
 *** 4.4.0.103.108 500
        500 http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     4.4.0.21.22 500
        500 http://ru.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages
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  • That was it ! I now have about 1GB of update for the past months, enough to fill up my entire screen :p. Thank you very very very much ! I have no idea why I had seemingly disabled this. Good day to you !
    – J. Doe
    Dec 11, 2017 at 17:08
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I ran into this before so maybe this will fix it for you.

First do

sudo apt-mark showmanual | grep linux-image

if you see an output something like (of course yours will be older ones not the new ones like I used in the example)

linux-image-4.4.0-101-generic
linux-image-4.4.0-103-generic
linux-image-extra-4.4.0-101-generic
linux-image-extra-4.4.0-103-generic
linux-image-generic

make note of these

Then do

 sudo apt-mark showmanual | grep linux-headers

if you see something like this

linux-headers-4.4.0-101
linux-headers-4.4.0-101-generic
linux-headers-4.4.0-103
linux-headers-4.4.0-103-generic
linux-headers-generic

make note of those

if this is the case .. that may be why they arent updating .. you will need to do

sudo apt-mark auto linux-image-4.4.0-101-generic linux-image-4.4.0-103-generic ...and so on for all the items

you want to have sudo apt-mark auto for any

linux-image-4.x.x-xxx-generic
linux-image-extra-4.x.x-xxx-generic
linux-image-generic
linux-headers-4.x.x-xxx
linux-headers-4.x.x-xxx-generic
linux-headers-generic

once those are all marked auto instead of manual

When you do the two commands

sudo apt-mark showmanual | grep linux-image
sudo apt-mark showmanual | grep linux-headers

and you got no output and you can check

sudo apt-mark showauto | grep linux-image
sudo apt-mark showauto | grep linux-headers

they should all show up in auto ... then do a

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

and they should show the latest and once installed it should show the older ones available for sudo apt-get autoremove (well ... autoremove will not remove the newest and second newest in your list ..just in case you need to go back a step-- which is why mine shows two version still)

You should now get any new kernels when they become available

hope this helps

Warning: This is only the way to fix this .. don't make the mistake of thinking "oh this is great I'll just make everything auto and it will update everything and I can clean my system with apt-get autoremove"

If you do that .. your system will be hosed :D ... some things can not be set to auto and if they are .. autoremove will remove things the system needs to run.

I figured I better include this warning for those new who may make that mistake.

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  • Very interesting thanks a lot. sudo apt-mark showmanual showed me that linux-image-generic and linux-headers-generic were set to manual, nothing else. I then put them in auto mode and tried to upgrade with sudo apt-get upgrade (after update of course) to no avail. I put them in manual afterwards because I'm not sure to fully understand your warning. Do you have another suggestion ?
    – J. Doe
    Dec 11, 2017 at 10:00
  • no i would leave those two at auto. I guess i messed up a bit I will edit the answer .. both linux-image-generic and linux-headers-generic as well as the things i show in the example are auto on mine... when you do the sudo apt-mark showauto | grep linux-image do you see the linux-image-4.x.x-xxx-generic entries so they are already auto or dont you see any listed in auto or manual?
    – John Orion
    Dec 11, 2017 at 18:20
  • here is what I have listed when I do the two commands .. I posted a screen shot on Imgur here
    – John Orion
    Dec 11, 2017 at 18:27
  • Well my problem was fixed by another answer, but thank your for your dedication. To answer your question : after the fix the linux-headers/image-generic are both in manual now. I don't understand exactly of this works so I will leave it at that, given that my updates now work normally.
    – J. Doe
    Dec 12, 2017 at 9:35
  • well like i say .. those two can be auto if you want .. they are normally auto .. and auto on my system .. but ..if its working .. i guess you are ok ... but keep an eye on it and remember this post so if it doesnt work next time there is a kernel update you can try making those auto again .. good luck :D .glad you got it working :D
    – John Orion
    Dec 12, 2017 at 9:40

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