I am writing this with extreme frustration regarding the recent kernel updates. For days, I have been struggling with recurring system instability, and today, the situation reached a breaking point. After a kernel update to version 6.17, my system suffered a catastrophic crash.
It is now completely unbootable. Even attempting a fresh install via a bootable USB has been an absolute nightmare, as the hardware compatibility with this kernel is non-existent for my setup (Intel i5-2320, H61 motherboard). As a result of this forced update, I have lost all of my personal data.
I am deeply disappointed. For a user relying on this system, having an update wipe out everything and turn a functional computer into a piece of scrap is unacceptable. This specific kernel version is proving to be a disaster for legacy hardware.
I urge the team to investigate these stability issues immediately so that no other user has to face the mental agony and data loss that I have experienced
Maybe the 6.17 Kernel is too new for Your Hardware. Has the 6.14 Kernel worked without Issues? If this should be too new, too, You could install the 6.8 Kernel.
Your frustration is understandable.
The 6.17 kernel update has caused a large number of regression issues for a very large number of users.
What you can do for Data Recovery: Create a Zorin OS 17 Bootable USB instead of a Zorin OS 18 one. It has a stable kernel in it.
Once booted, mount your current drive and copy over all personal data you want to recover to another USB stick or External drive.
It is. Not just because something went wrong; but because there has been plenty of warning and time to take preventative action.
This should have been reasonably addressed within days of the immediate reports that the 6.17 kernel was causing a lot of breakage. Instead; the 6.17 kernel remains on the table to this day.
To answer your question, yes, the update happened automatically and that's exactly where the nightmare began. Kernel 6.14 was working like a dream on my setup—perfect stability, no issues at all.
But this new update to Kernel 6.17 is a complete disaster. It didn't just 'not work'—it completely nuked my system. It's unbootable now, and because of this forced update, I've lost all my important data. I am beyond frustrated because a perfectly fine machine was ruined by an unstable update that I didn't even ask for. 6.17 is definitely NOT ready for this hardware."
Thank you for the reply and the suggestions. However, at this point, the damage is already done. My entire system crashed and became unusable due to the Kernel 6.17 update, which installed automatically. It completely destroyed my setup and resulted in the loss of all my data, which is devastating.
There is no use for me in the new kernel anymore. I have already performed a fresh install of Zorin OS 18, and I have reverted to a stable, older kernel while completely removing the 6.17 version. My computer is running fine now, but the experience has been extremely frustrating. I am sharing this so the team understands how destructive this kernel has been for legacy hardware users like me."
Due to this, I have moved this to the Feedback forum, in order to have it be attentive to the stronger issue:
Setting Updates to not be automatic is a good start.
But even if it was not automatic, the end user should be able to have a bit more trust in a vetted kernel update without worry about such data loss.
This is not a small glitch.
Did You disabled Automatic Updates, too? Because if not the Kernel could be installed again.
Maybe Your Hardware is simply too old for this Kernel. Then, it can't run well. And I would doubt that it will run better with future Updates. You could take the 6.12 Kernel. It is an LTS Kernel. So, it is supported a While.