Kernel Panic

Kernel Panic

Hi.

Ubuntu Unity 24.04 Booting with refind ‘boot/vmlinuz/6.11.28’

System was running fine until I downloaded the latest update which included Kernel 6.14.0-4 on Jul.18.2025. Then, when I tried to boot I got this scary message:

Kernel Panic - Please Reboot your computer
UFS: Unable to mount root FS on unknown - block (0,0)

I’m running on my Jul.01.2025 backup. My fear is if I allow the latest OS update on the backup, I’ll die with another Kernel Panic message on my backup.

Yikes!!! What to do.

Thanks,

M…

You should be able to select the old kernel from GRUB menu, or not?

Did you install the kernels using the mainline PPA?

Most likely initramfs

sudo update-initramfs -c -k all

https://askubuntu.com/questions/41930/kernel-panic-not-syncing-vfs-unable-to-mount-root-fs-on-unknown-block0-0

Since everything was working fine before the update just boot into the previous kernel.

HI. Without my desktop I’m slow at responding - please bear with me.
System does not come up - just goes into Panic message.
I can get to REfind - but how to get it to boot into old kernel???
Thanks,
M, on my wife’s laptop

From your backup or from a live usb check /etc/default/grub and see if you have a line with:
#GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false
and remove the ‘#’
then run update grub and at reboot you should have the GRUB menu allowing to select the ol kernel.

Hi.
I’m back in the saddle again. After much frustration, I realized that refind allows me to select which kernel to boot from if I hit the ‘F2’ key.

I am back on my Desktop using the fallback kernel 6.11.0.29.

So now the question is, how come booting from the 6.14.0.24 Kernel sends me to a Kernel Panic screen ?? Is this just me or are there others with this problem ?

Will the next kernel update cause me the same problem, and then the fallback kernel will be 6.14.0-24 and I’m in big trouble.

And something else I don’t understand - when I booted with my backup, I said NO to ‘OS Updates’, but somehow the Kernel got updated without asking me. This wiped out my backup (Kernel Panic). How come ??

Thanks for all you help - I’ll keep at it. Have a nice day,
M…

Impossible for anybody to answer until the next kernel arrives.

Yes, this is a potential problem.
The answer is to always keep your working kernel 6.11.0-29.
When the Software Updater next appears, pay attention to Unused kernels to be removed
Remove the tick from the checkbox

Are you referring to Notify me of a new Ubuntu version?
This means updates between OS versions e.g. 24.04 > 24.10 > 25.04 etc.
This does not prevent the introduction of new kernels within the same version.

1 Like

No, I’m not referring to Notify me of a new Ubuntu version?. If a request comes in to update software, I just say ‘remind me later’, yet somehow, the kernel got updated 6.11.0.29 to 6.14.0-24.

To be safe I just did a fresh backup.

Now when I go to Software Updater, I get :

Package Operation Failed
The installation or removal of a software package failed

It does not say what Software Package.

Is this related to my problem ?

Thanks,
M…

Try the terminal commands (one at a time)
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
The terminal output should offer a clue

Okay, here we go:

 sudo apt update 
Hit:1 http://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu noble InRelease 
Hit:2 https://ocean.surfshark.com/debian stretch InRelease                                         
Hit:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble InRelease                                             
Hit:4 https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease                                      
Hit:5 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-security InRelease                                   
Hit:6 https://esm.ubuntu.com/apps/ubuntu noble-apps-security InRelease                             
Hit:7 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/cairo-dock-team/ppa/ubuntu noble InRelease 
Hit:8 https://esm.ubuntu.com/infra/ubuntu noble-infra-security InRelease 
Hit:9 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/giuspen/ppa/ubuntu noble InRelease 
Hit:10 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/touchegg/stable/ubuntu noble InRelease 
Hit:11 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/xtradeb/apps/ubuntu noble InRelease 
Reading package lists... Done 
Building dependency tree... Done 
Reading state information... Done 
All packages are up to date.
mg@MGDesktopUnity:~$ sudo apt upgrade 
Reading package lists... Done 
Building dependency tree... Done 
Reading state information... Done 
Calculating upgrade... Done 
The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required: 
  libfilezilla42t64 
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove it. 
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. 
4 not fully installed or removed. 
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used. 
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y 
Setting up linux-headers-6.14.0-24-generic (6.14.0-24.24~24.04.3) ... 
/etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms: 
 * dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 6.14.0-24-generic 
Sign command: /usr/bin/kmodsign 
Binary update-secureboot-policy not found, modules won't be signed 
 
Building module: 
Cleaning build area... 
make -j8 KERNELRELEASE=6.14.0-24-generic KVER=6.14.0-24-generic...(bad exit status: 2) 
ERROR: Cannot create report: [Errno 17] File exists: '/var/crash/broadcom-sta-dkms.0.crash' 
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 6.14.0-24-generic (x86_64) 
Consult /var/lib/dkms/broadcom-sta/6.30.223.271/build/make.log for more information. 
dkms autoinstall on 6.14.0-24-generic/x86_64 succeeded for virtualbox 
dkms autoinstall on 6.14.0-24-generic/x86_64 failed for broadcom-sta(10) 
Error! One or more modules failed to install during autoinstall. 
Refer to previous errors for more information. 
 * dkms: autoinstall for kernel 6.14.0-24-generic 
   ...fail! 
run-parts: /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms exited with return code 11 
dpkg: error processing package linux-headers-6.14.0-24-generic (--configure): 
 installed linux-headers-6.14.0-24-generic package post-installation script subprocess returned err
or exit status 11 
Setting up linux-image-6.14.0-24-generic (6.14.0-24.24~24.04.3) ... 
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-headers-generic-hwe-24.04: 
 linux-headers-generic-hwe-24.04 depends on linux-headers-6.14.0-24-generic; however: 
  Package linux-headers-6.14.0-24-generic is not configured yet. 
 
dpkg: error processing package linux-headers-generic-hwe-24.04 (--configure): 
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-generic-hwe-24.04: 
 linux-generic-hwe-24.04 depends on linux-headers-generic-hwe-24.04 (= 6.14.0-24.24~24.04.3); howev
er: 
  Package linux-headers-generic-hwe-24.04 is not configured yet. 
 
dpkg: error processing package linux-generic-hwe-24.04 (--configure): 
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured 
No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous f
ailure. 
       No apport report written because the error message indicates its a followup error from a pre
vious failure. 
              Processing triggers for linux-image-6.14.0-24-generic (6.14.0-24.24~24.04.3) ... 
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms: 
 * dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 6.14.0-24-generic 
Sign command: /usr/bin/kmodsign 
Binary update-secureboot-policy not found, modules won't be signed 
 
Building module: 
Cleaning build area... 
make -j8 KERNELRELEASE=6.14.0-24-generic KVER=6.14.0-24-generic...(bad exit status: 2) 
ERROR: Cannot create report: [Errno 17] File exists: '/var/crash/broadcom-sta-dkms.0.crash' 
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 6.14.0-24-generic (x86_64) 
Consult /var/lib/dkms/broadcom-sta/6.30.223.271/build/make.log for more information. 
dkms autoinstall on 6.14.0-24-generic/x86_64 succeeded for virtualbox 
dkms autoinstall on 6.14.0-24-generic/x86_64 failed for broadcom-sta(10) 
Error! One or more modules failed to install during autoinstall. 
Refer to previous errors for more information. 
 * dkms: autoinstall for kernel 6.14.0-24-generic 
   ...fail! 
run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms exited with return code 11 
dpkg: error processing package linux-image-6.14.0-24-generic (--configure): 
 installed linux-image-6.14.0-24-generic package post-installation script subprocess returned error
 exit status 11 
No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already 
                                                              Errors were encountered while process
ing: 
 linux-headers-6.14.0-24-generic 
 linux-headers-generic-hwe-24.04 
 linux-generic-hwe-24.04 
 linux-image-6.14.0-24-generic 
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1) 
mg@MGDesktopUnity:~$ mg@MGDesktopUnity:~$ sudo apt upgrade 
Reading package lists... Done 
Building dependency tree... Done 
Reading state information... Done 
Calculating upgrade... Done 
The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required: 
  libfilezilla42t64 
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove it. 
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded. 
4 not fully installed or removed. 
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used. 
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y 
Setting up linux-headers-6.14.0-24-generic (6.14.0-24.24~24.04.3) ... 
/etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms: 
 * dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 6.14.0-24-generic 
Sign command: /usr/bin/kmodsign 
Binary update-secureboot-policy not found, modules won't be signed 
 
Building module: 
Cleaning build area... 
make -j8 KERNELRELEASE=6.14.0-24-generic KVER=6.14.0-24-generic...(bad exit status: 2) 
ERROR: Cannot create report: [Errno 17] File exists: '/var/crash/broadcom-sta-dkms.0.crash' 
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 6.14.0-24-generic (x86_64) 
Consult /var/lib/dkms/broadcom-sta/6.30.223.271/build/make.log for more information. 
       No apport reptten because the error message indicates its a followup error from a previous f

@mikegreen8

I added code tags for you. It makes for much easier reading and analysis.

Please use them when posting output from the terminal.

Either highlight the text and press Ctrl+E on the keyboard or use the </> icon on the ribbon.

Thanks.

When sudo apt update is used, I would expect to see the entries from the ubuntu repositories
for example:-

Hit:1 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-security InRelease
Hit:2 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble InRelease                      
Hit:3 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-updates InRelease              
Hit:4 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble-backports InRelease  

Are they disabled on your system?

Upon closer examination, you do not seem to have two repos enabled:-
noble-backports
noble-updates

3 Likes

I was surprised today when I got the same issue. Downgrading to kernel v6.11.0-29 solved the issue.

This is the version of Ubuntu that I am running: Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS x86_64

I think that Broadcom driver may need to be updated, I think.

If you don’t need it, try removing it

tea-for-one:
I can’t find the ‘unused kernel updates to be removed’ option. I’m concerned that I may be in trouble with the next kernel update and no fallback kernel that will work.

rubi1200: Thanks for adding the code tags.

tea-for-one:

When sudo apt update is used, I would expect to see the entries from the ubuntu repositories - Are they disabled on your system?
As far as I can see, ubuntu repos are not disabled

tea-for-one:

Upon closer examination, you do not seem to have two repos enabled:-
noble-backports
noble-updates
I don’t see these 2 repos in the ‘other software’ tab.

imadsaddik:

I was surprised today when I got the same issue. Downgrading to kernel v6.11.0-29 solved the issue.
Nice to see someone else with my same issue. Hopefully it will be resolved in the next Kernel.

YamiYukiSenpai:

I think that Broadcom driver may need to be updated, I think.
I need the Broadcom driver.

Interesting to note that successive attempts to do OS Updates yields no error - just says the “Software is up to date on this computer”

Thanks for all your responses. For now I will use the 6.11 kernel and backup every other day until the next kernel update. Hopefully this post will trigger someone to look onto the next kernel.

M…

Can you open Software Updater (not Software & Updates)?
You should see the GUI as indicated in post no. 9

If I enter ‘Software Updater’ in DASH, system goes into Software Updater. I click on ‘Settings’, but I do not see the keep old Kernels option. What am I missing here ?

Thanks,
M…