Zorin 17.2 w Kernel 6.8.0-51 won't boot

[SkyX]

Hi all,
I'm an absolute Newbie to Zorin !
Yesterday I tried to install latest Zorin release onto multiple different Laptops... no Dual Boot, Installation uses the entire Disk !
A very old Intel Pentium machine where everything worked like a charm... (Windows 10)
A brand new AMD Laptop (dunno exact specs) (Windows 11)
After initial problems I went through the recommended BIOS settings (Fast Boot etc.) and Boot Repair from a Live USB Stick. Nothing helped to get the AMD machine running.
Then I stumbled over Grub Boot Menu offers 4 OS...
Zorin with 6.8.0-40 Kernel along with associated Recovery Option
Zorin with 6.8.0-51 Kernel along with associated Recovery Option

On the AMD machine the system gets stuck in the splash screen whenever the default option with latest kernel is selected... it simply hangs.
Booting Zorin 17.2 with 6.8.040 Kernel works fine... (Took couple of hours to find that out)

Are there any obvious or already known issues ?
I don't want to spend too much time digging deeper... if nothing else I would like to set the default boot to that older kernel and prevent this getting updated automatically. How can I do that ?

Many thanks for any input.
Sky

[Aravisian]

@SkyX

if nothing else I would like to set the default boot to that older kernel and prevent this getting updated automatically. How can I do that ?

You can follow this guide to set your default kernel so that it does not change:

[HOW TO] set an older kernel to default boot

You may need to use an earlier kernel than the current kernel used by Zorin. This method allows you to set the kernel that you will boot into by default. To set the new kernel to default: Boot into the kernel you wish to be Saved. Open terminal and run: sudo nano /etc/default/grub Change GRUB_DEFAULT=0 to GRUB_DEFAULT=saved Hit enter to drop down a line. Add GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true ctrl+x to exit, then the y key to say yes to save, then the enter key to save as current configuration. Ru…

If you like, you can proceed troubleshooting with the non-working laptop. Do you have access to its Grub Recovery menu as well?

[SkyX]

Many thanks for your response...
Very strange situation now
As I said before, booting into standard always failed at the splash screen... it simply hung there (I left it sitting for 30 minutes on one attempt)
I used the Advanced Options in the Boot Menu to boot into the 6.8.0-40 generic version, which worked fine.
I then followed your advice and edited the grub settings and rebooted without going into Advanced... and it worked
I then wanted to check and was surprised to see, that uname -a reported Zorin 6.8.0-51 ???
Next I restarted and selected 6.8.0-51 from the Advanced List... and it worked
As a side note... my earlier attempt to repair Boot ended with the infamous NVRAM locked error.
I can only assume that sudo update-grub did something that fixed the hang (where I don't know if grub is still in play when the OS boot screen shows...) ?
Later I'll run a final test and revert the grub changes (GRUB_DEFAULT=saved back to 0) I did and see what comes out of it...

Many thanks

[Ponce-De-Leon]

I find it interesting that You have Kernel 6.8.0-52 because the Kernel should be 6.8.0-51.

[SkyX]

typo... it's 51...

[Ponce-De-Leon]

To avoid Missunderstandings - especially with the Thread Title -, I would change it to 51. I hope it is okay for You.

[CN7]

I have experimeted with various versions of Linux for some years but mainly a Windows user so have limited expertise.
I installed Zorin Core 17.2 on an elderly Thinkpad X-201 a few months back and it worked fine, did not use it it for a while but this week decided to install as a dual boot with Windows 11, (I had previosly swapped the SSD to use Zorin) a bit of experimenting with BIOS settings and all seemed OK but this time the system would randomly hang, somtimes on boot other times after some use. The only way out of the hang was to power off and start again.
After reading various forum articles used the Grub Advanced options to load an earlier Core/Kernel. The default Kernel was 6.8.0.51, this is the Kernel which was unreliable, the other option offered was 6.2.0.39, choosing this option everything appers to work without problems, so I am sure the hangs are due to bugs in 6.8.0.51 which affect this machine.
I swopped back to my original SSD which only has Zorin 17.2 installed, this used to work but now had hangs,as I installed updates which ended up with Kernel 6.8.0.51 and again it started to randomly hang the system (so bad at one stage I thought the SSD was faulty). Again I chose 6.2.0.39 from the Grub menu and it all works fine.
Today I let it do all the available updates it now reports Kernel 6.8.0.52
(YES I DO MEAN 52) in the Grub menu and ''uname -a' this seemed a bit more reliable but eventally caused a hang again. So I will fix it to boot to 6.2.0.39 as the current configuration for now.

BTW the Thinkpad X-201 does not support UEFI BIOS
Hope this helps others with similar problems.
I have used earlier versons of Zorin on old Laptops with no probems.

Today 30/01/24 I reinstalled the dual boot disk in the Thinkpad X-201 and made the same changes as on the Zorin only SSD, all appeared to go OK but it will not default to the earlier version 6.2.0.39, insists on running 6.8.0.51. I can only get it to run 6.2.0.39 by using the Advanced Optons, then attempted to update the software and it loads the modules for 6.8.0.52 but then comes up with an error and now can't find Kernel 6.8.0.51 on boot, so will just stick with using the Advanced Options and Kernel 6.2.0.39. Enough time wasted on this, other things to do!

[Youtuberkid]

Update The Older Kernel
Didn't Worked??