Got the new update, then Desktop unresponsive, rebooted, no boot

[Aravisian]

@ArKay99

Thank you for clarifying what I should do to reinstall the 6.14 kernel. As I said, the procedure came from AI responses to my searches...I don't trust them all that much.

The A.I. is not wrong, really - it is leading you to install it from the Live USB onto your Installed Zorin OS and in that case, it is correct that you need to mount the partition and use chroot.

What I do not understand is why you need that path, at all...

That said, reading:

@ArKay99

For some reason everytime I boot into 6.14, it wants to run fsck and every time more and more errors are fixed, and nothing works on the desktop.

Installing the 6.14 kernel - which unless you know something I do not know - was installed and not removed and you set it to default... Would not fix this.

Have you run a S.M.A.R.T. (test) on your drive for bad sectors/blocks that may be causing this kind of file corruption?
Have you checked if that drive space is Filled?

[ArKay99]

@Aravisian

Installing the 6.14 kernel - which unless you know something I do not know - was installed and not removed and you set it to default... Would not fix this.

That's what I'm wondering about. Why would installing 6.17 corrupt 6.14, unless some sectors or whatever got overwritten. Strangely it's a brand new 1 TB EVO870 (at least since the original Zorin install), I gave Zorin the whole 1TB drive since I have another 1 TB drive for Data and other things. It's been running flawlessly until the update the other day, to which the OP referenced the problem.

I just went looking for Samsung Magician (which has a S.M.A.R.T. function) but found it's been discontinued, so I'm about to try and install smartmontools on my flashdrive since the Zorin desktop is corrupted and try to run it on my Zorin OS disk. I'll report back what it shows.

[ArKay99]

This is what it shows up to now, I'm running more tests:

zorin@zorin:~$ sudo smartctl -i /dev/sda
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.14.0-33-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Samsung based SSDs
Device Model: Samsung SSD 870 EVO 1TB
Serial Number: S75BNL0Y909050P
LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 f5590cd37
Firmware Version: SVT03B6Q
User Capacity: 1,000,204,886,016 bytes [1.00 TB]
Sector Size: 512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate: Solid State Device
Form Factor: 2.5 inches
TRIM Command: Available, deterministic, zeroed
Device is: In smartctl database 7.3/5528
ATA Version is: ACS-4 T13/BSR INCITS 529 revision 5
SATA Version is: SATA 3.3, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is: Tue Feb 10 01:32:28 2026 UTC
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

zorin@zorin:~$ sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.14.0-33-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Samsung based SSDs
Device Model: Samsung SSD 870 EVO 1TB
Serial Number: S75BNL0Y909050P
LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 f5590cd37
Firmware Version: SVT03B6Q
User Capacity: 1,000,204,886,016 bytes [1.00 TB]
Sector Size: 512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate: Solid State Device
Form Factor: 2.5 inches
TRIM Command: Available, deterministic, zeroed
Device is: In smartctl database 7.3/5528
ATA Version is: ACS-4 T13/BSR INCITS 529 revision 5
SATA Version is: SATA 3.3, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is: Tue Feb 10 01:33:17 2026 UTC
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 0) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x53) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
No Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 85) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x003d) SCT Status supported.
SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 1970
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 90
177 Wear_Leveling_Count 0x0013 099 099 000 Pre-fail Always - 1
179 Used_Rsvd_Blk_Cnt_Tot 0x0013 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0
181 Program_Fail_Cnt_Total 0x0032 100 100 010 Old_age Always - 0
182 Erase_Fail_Count_Total 0x0032 100 100 010 Old_age Always - 0
183 Runtime_Bad_Block 0x0013 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0
187 Uncorrectable_Error_Cnt 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0032 075 060 000 Old_age Always - 25
195 ECC_Error_Rate 0x001a 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
199 CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 121
235 POR_Recovery_Count 0x0012 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 67
241 Total_LBAs_Written 0x0032 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 2110347831
252 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
256 0 65535 Read_scanning was never started
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

The above only provides legacy SMART information - try 'smartctl -x' for more

zorin@zorin:~$ sudo smartctl -H /dev/sda
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.14.0-33-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

[ArKay99]

Results of short test:
zorin@zorin:~$ sudo smartctl -t short /dev/sda
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.14.0-33-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF OFFLINE IMMEDIATE AND SELF-TEST SECTION ===
Sending command: "Execute SMART Short self-test routine immediately in off-line mode".
Drive command "Execute SMART Short self-test routine immediately in off-line mode" successful.
Testing has begun.
Please wait 2 minutes for test to complete.
Test will complete after Tue Feb 10 01:40:45 2026 UTC
Use smartctl -X to abort test.
zorin@zorin:~$ sudo smartctl -l selftest /dev/sda
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.14.0-33-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error

1 Short offline Completed without error 00% 1970 -

doing a long test now...

[ArKay99]

I also did sudo smartctl --xall /dev/sda
It returned this:
zorin@zorin:~$ sudo smartctl --xall /dev/sda
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.14.0-33-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Samsung based SSDs
Device Model: Samsung SSD 870 EVO 1TB
Serial Number: S75BNL0Y909050P
LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 f5590cd37
Firmware Version: SVT03B6Q
User Capacity: 1,000,204,886,016 bytes [1.00 TB]
Sector Size: 512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate: Solid State Device
Form Factor: 2.5 inches
TRIM Command: Available, deterministic, zeroed
Device is: In smartctl database 7.3/5528
ATA Version is: ACS-4 T13/BSR INCITS 529 revision 5
SATA Version is: SATA 3.3, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is: Tue Feb 10 01:52:19 2026 UTC
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
AAM feature is: Unavailable
APM feature is: Unavailable
Rd look-ahead is: Enabled
Write cache is: Enabled
DSN feature is: Unavailable
ATA Security is: Disabled, frozen [SEC2]
Wt Cache Reorder: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 0) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x53) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
No Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 85) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x003d) SCT Status supported.
SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAGS VALUE WORST THRESH FAIL RAW_VALUE
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct PO--CK 100 100 010 - 0
9 Power_On_Hours -O--CK 099 099 000 - 1971
12 Power_Cycle_Count -O--CK 099 099 000 - 90
177 Wear_Leveling_Count PO--C- 099 099 000 - 1
179 Used_Rsvd_Blk_Cnt_Tot PO--C- 100 100 010 - 0
181 Program_Fail_Cnt_Total -O--CK 100 100 010 - 0
182 Erase_Fail_Count_Total -O--CK 100 100 010 - 0
183 Runtime_Bad_Block PO--C- 100 100 010 - 0
187 Uncorrectable_Error_Cnt -O--CK 100 100 000 - 0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel -O--CK 075 060 000 - 25
195 ECC_Error_Rate -O-RC- 200 200 000 - 0
199 CRC_Error_Count -OSRCK 099 099 000 - 121
235 POR_Recovery_Count -O--C- 099 099 000 - 67
241 Total_LBAs_Written -O--CK 099 099 000 - 2110347831
252 Unknown_Attribute -O--CK 100 100 000 - 0
||||||_ K auto-keep
|||||__ C event count
||||___ R error rate
|||____ S speed/performance
||_____ O updated online
|______ P prefailure warning

General Purpose Log Directory Version 1
SMART Log Directory Version 1 [multi-sector log support]
Address Access R/W Size Description
0x00 GPL,SL R/O 1 Log Directory
0x01 SL R/O 1 Summary SMART error log
0x02 SL R/O 1 Comprehensive SMART error log
0x03 GPL R/O 1 Ext. Comprehensive SMART error log
0x04 GPL,SL R/O 8 Device Statistics log
0x06 SL R/O 1 SMART self-test log
0x07 GPL R/O 1 Extended self-test log
0x09 SL R/W 1 Selective self-test log
0x10 GPL R/O 1 NCQ Command Error log
0x11 GPL R/O 1 SATA Phy Event Counters log
0x13 GPL R/O 1 SATA NCQ Send and Receive log
0x30 GPL,SL R/O 9 IDENTIFY DEVICE data log
0x80-0x9f GPL,SL R/W 16 Host vendor specific log
0xa1 SL VS 16 Device vendor specific log
0xa5 SL VS 16 Device vendor specific log
0xce SL VS 16 Device vendor specific log
0xe0 GPL,SL R/W 1 SCT Command/Status
0xe1 GPL,SL R/W 1 SCT Data Transfer

SMART Extended Comprehensive Error Log Version: 1 (1 sectors)
No Errors Logged

SMART Extended Self-test Log Version: 1 (1 sectors)
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error

1 Short offline Completed without error 00% 1970 -

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
256 0 65535 Read_scanning was never started
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

SCT Status Version: 3
SCT Version (vendor specific): 256 (0x0100)
Device State: Active (0)
Current Temperature: 25 Celsius
Power Cycle Min/Max Temperature: 19/40 Celsius
Lifetime Min/Max Temperature: 19/40 Celsius
Specified Max Operating Temperature: 70 Celsius
Under/Over Temperature Limit Count: 0/0
SMART Status: 0xc24f (PASSED)

SCT Temperature History Version: 2
Temperature Sampling Period: 10 minutes
Temperature Logging Interval: 10 minutes
Min/Max recommended Temperature: 0/70 Celsius
Min/Max Temperature Limit: 0/70 Celsius
Temperature History Size (Index): 128 (36)

Index Estimated Time Temperature Celsius
37 2026-02-09 04:40 23 ****
... ..( 27 skipped). .. ****
65 2026-02-09 09:20 23 ****
66 2026-02-09 09:30 24 *****
67 2026-02-09 09:40 24 *****
68 2026-02-09 09:50 25 ******
... ..( 9 skipped). .. ******
78 2026-02-09 11:30 25 ******
79 2026-02-09 11:40 26 *******
80 2026-02-09 11:50 26 *******
81 2026-02-09 12:00 ? -
82 2026-02-09 12:10 19 -
83 2026-02-09 12:20 20 *
... ..( 2 skipped). .. *
86 2026-02-09 12:50 20 *
87 2026-02-09 13:00 21 **
... ..( 10 skipped). .. **
98 2026-02-09 14:50 21 **
99 2026-02-09 15:00 22 ***
... ..( 10 skipped). .. ***
110 2026-02-09 16:50 22 ***
111 2026-02-09 17:00 23 ****
... ..( 14 skipped). .. ****
126 2026-02-09 19:30 23 ****
127 2026-02-09 19:40 24 *****
... ..( 19 skipped). .. *****
19 2026-02-09 23:00 24 *****
20 2026-02-09 23:10 25 ******
... ..( 15 skipped). .. ******
36 2026-02-10 01:50 25 ******

SCT Error Recovery Control:
Read: Disabled
Write: Disabled

Device Statistics (GP Log 0x04)
Page Offset Size Value Flags Description
0x01 ===== = = === == General Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x01 0x008 4 90 --- Lifetime Power-On Resets
0x01 0x010 4 1971 --- Power-on Hours
0x01 0x018 6 2110347831 --- Logical Sectors Written
0x01 0x020 6 33066114 --- Number of Write Commands
0x01 0x028 6 1115809592 --- Logical Sectors Read
0x01 0x030 6 21159118 --- Number of Read Commands
0x01 0x038 6 680000 --- Date and Time TimeStamp
0x04 ===== = = === == General Errors Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x04 0x008 4 0 --- Number of Reported Uncorrectable Errors
0x04 0x010 4 173 --- Resets Between Cmd Acceptance and Completion
0x05 ===== = = === == Temperature Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x05 0x008 1 25 --- Current Temperature
0x05 0x020 1 40 --- Highest Temperature
0x05 0x028 1 19 --- Lowest Temperature
0x05 0x058 1 70 --- Specified Maximum Operating Temperature
0x06 ===== = = === == Transport Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x06 0x008 4 1269 --- Number of Hardware Resets
0x06 0x010 4 0 --- Number of ASR Events
0x06 0x018 4 121 --- Number of Interface CRC Errors
0x07 ===== = = === == Solid State Device Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x07 0x008 1 0 N-- Percentage Used Endurance Indicator
|||_ C monitored condition met
||__ D supports DSN
|___ N normalized value

Pending Defects log (GP Log 0x0c) not supported

SATA Phy Event Counters (GP Log 0x11)
ID Size Value Description
0x0001 2 0 Command failed due to ICRC error
0x0002 2 0 R_ERR response for data FIS
0x0003 2 0 R_ERR response for device-to-host data FIS
0x0004 2 0 R_ERR response for host-to-device data FIS
0x0005 2 0 R_ERR response for non-data FIS
0x0006 2 0 R_ERR response for device-to-host non-data FIS
0x0007 2 0 R_ERR response for host-to-device non-data FIS
0x0008 2 0 Device-to-host non-data FIS retries
0x0009 2 205 Transition from drive PhyRdy to drive PhyNRdy
0x000a 2 4 Device-to-host register FISes sent due to a COMRESET
0x000b 2 0 CRC errors within host-to-device FIS
0x000d 2 0 Non-CRC errors within host-to-device FIS
0x000f 2 0 R_ERR response for host-to-device data FIS, CRC
0x0010 2 0 R_ERR response for host-to-device data FIS, non-CRC
0x0012 2 0 R_ERR response for host-to-device non-data FIS, CRC
0x0013 2 0 R_ERR response for host-to-device non-data FIS, non-CRC

I don't see any errors...

[Aravisian]

Looks good - that is a relief.

Well, what happens when you use advanced options to select the 6.14 kernel?

Is the disk space filled?

[ArKay99]

Please pardon my confusion... I'm not sure how to check if the disk space is filled.
After I showed those test results, I went back into my bios and set it to boot from my Zorin OS (this is a dual boot with Windows 10).
Then I booted into the boot select and selected Advanced Options, this brings up:
Zorin OS, with Linux 6.17.0-14-generic
Zorin OS, with Linux 6.17.0-14-generic (recovery mode)
Zorin OS, with Linux 6.14.0-37-generic
Zorin OS, with Linux 6.14.0-37-generic (recovery mode)

I'm not sure how to check if the disk space is filled from here. If I select the 3rd option it goes into the boot silently and fails at the 'need MANUAL fsck' error.
If I select option 4, it does the same thing but is verbose.
Escape brings me back to the boot select menu.
C puts me into the grub prompt.
Again, not sure what to do from there. I've done some searches looking for the answer, but nothing definitive.

[zabadabadoo]

Are you able to use your installation USB in "Try Zorin" mode.
If yes, then from Menu select "Disks" app. Use that to click on the /root partition of your SSD drive and note free space and %full stats.

[ArKay99]

Hi zabadabadoo, thanks for the info. I am about to reply to Aravisian too. I think I've fixed the problem. All along I've been using fsck /dev/sda. Just a little while ago I ran the boot from the Advanced Options-> Zorin OS, with Linux 6.14.0-37-generic (recovery mode), and when it got to the failed prompt I noticed it said /dev/sda1 had failed consistency. so I ran fsck /dev/sda1, went through the prompts, and rebooted to the grub menu. Then selected Advanced Options, then Zorin OS, with Linux 6.14.0-37-generic (recovery mode) and it made it all the way through to the recovery options menu. I then selected Normal boot and it got into the desktop, but the graphics were in some mode (probably a basic mode for the installed driver). Then I chose restart and when the grub menu came up, I selected Zorin OS, with Linux 6.14.0-37-generic. It booted properly to my desktop, and all my programs are working.
Now, I'm about to purge 6.17.0-14-generic, but will wait to do that while my nerves settle a little. I did make the changes to the grub menu outlined in one of the posts Aravisian linked to, but the first choice when going into the Advanced Options menu is still Zorin OS, with Linux 6.17.0-14-generic. I'm not sure if that is what will execute if I just select Zorin OS at the grub menu.
I'll report back a little later after I go through my system a bit more. In the meantime I'm going to see about doing a Timeshift of my Zorin OS and Zorin Data drives. I remember when I used it before and did a Timeshift on my Zorin OS drive then looked at the restore options they didn't appear correct. I did a search and found that Timeshift cannot do a proper incremental backup on a drive that is mounted, and if backing up the OS drive it has to be mounted. To get around that, I'm wondering if I can install Timeshift to my Zorin Live USB partition and run it from there to back up my system drive.

[ArKay99]

BTW, since it is back up, I just looked at my system drive and it's got 815.4 Available of 983.3 GB, showing 117.9 GB used.

I just did a Timeshift on the whole computer.

[ArKay99]

I just did the recommended changes to make 6.14 the default in default/grub, then saved and exited, then ran sudo update-grub, it returned:
Sourcing file 'etc/default/grub'
/usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig: 7: /etc/default/grub: GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT: not found
Looking into how to fix this...

[ArKay99]

I fixed that, I had a space between GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT and =

[ArKay99]

I have successfully removed and purged 6.17 and it reconfigure grub, then I ran sudo update-grub. I just rebooted and all is working. I also did a complete system snapshot with Timeshift.
Thank you Aravisian, zabadabadoo, Ponce-De-Leon, Tokashi, and wsmather for your input and help!