How to recover from a broken kernel upgrade

[M. Cuffaro]

Hello all,

I have looked around for an answer but was unable to find one, and was hoping that someone here could help me. First, some background to my information about my question. I recently ran

apt full-upgrade

on my Debian bookworm system. Because of what seems like a bug in dkms, the upgrade to linux-image-6.1.0-12-amd64 could not complete. Running

apt -f install

does not help. The uphshot is that, although I can still boot into my laptop using the old version of my kernel (either linux-image-6.1.0-11-amd64 or linux-image-6.1.0-10-amd64), I can no longer use apt to upgrade other packages on my system. Furthermore when I run

needrestart

I am informed that:

The currently running kernel version is 6.1.0-10-amd64 which is not the expected kernel version 6.1.0-12-amd64.

Here is my question: How can I rollback the broken upgrade safely so that I can continue to use my system (in particular, apt) normally? Any help anyone can provide would be much appreciated.

Below are some further details. First, here is the result of running apt -f install:

$ sudo apt -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  linux-headers-6.1.0-10-amd64 linux-headers-6.1.0-10-common linux-image-6.1.0-10-amd64
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
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.
Setting up linux-image-6.1.0-12-amd64 (6.1.52-1) ...
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms:
dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 6.1.0-12-amd64.
Sign command: /usr/lib/linux-kbuild-6.1/scripts/sign-file
Signing key: /var/lib/dkms/mok.key
Public certificate (MOK): /var/lib/dkms/mok.pub

Building module:
Cleaning build area...
'./driverctl' make all............(bad exit status: 2)
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 6.1.0-12-amd64 (x86_64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/make.log for more information.
Error! One or more modules failed to install during autoinstall.
Refer to previous errors for more information.
dkms: autoinstall for kernel: 6.1.0-12-amd64 failed!
run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms exited with return code 11
dpkg: error processing package linux-image-6.1.0-12-amd64 (--configure):
 installed linux-image-6.1.0-12-amd64 package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
Setting up linux-headers-6.1.0-12-amd64 (6.1.52-1) ...
/etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms:
dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 6.1.0-12-amd64.
Sign command: /usr/lib/linux-kbuild-6.1/scripts/sign-file
Signing key: /var/lib/dkms/mok.key
Public certificate (MOK): /var/lib/dkms/mok.pub

Building module:
Cleaning build area...
'./driverctl' make all...........(bad exit status: 2)
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 6.1.0-12-amd64 (x86_64)
Consult /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/make.log for more information.
Error! One or more modules failed to install during autoinstall.
Refer to previous errors for more information.
dkms: autoinstall for kernel: 6.1.0-12-amd64 failed!
run-parts: /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms exited with return code 11
Failed to process /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-headers-6.1.0-12-amd64.postinst line 11.
dpkg: error processing package linux-headers-6.1.0-12-amd64 (--configure):
 installed linux-headers-6.1.0-12-amd64 package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 1
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-headers-amd64:
 linux-headers-amd64 depends on linux-headers-6.1.0-12-amd64 (= 6.1.52-1); however:
  Package linux-headers-6.1.0-12-amd64 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package linux-headers-amd64 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-amd64:
 linux-image-amd64 depends on linux-image-6.1.0-12-amd64 (= 6.1.52-1); however:
  Package linux-image-6.1.0-12-amd64 is not configured yet.

dpkg: error processing package linux-image-amd64 (--configure):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 linux-image-6.1.0-12-amd64
 linux-headers-6.1.0-12-amd64
 linux-headers-amd64
 linux-image-amd64
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Here are the contents of /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/make.log:

$ cat /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/make.log
DKMS make.log for rtl88x2bu-5.13.1 for kernel 6.1.0-12-amd64 (x86_64)
Wed 13 Sep 2023 11:09:22 AM EDT
make ARCH=x86_64 CROSS_COMPILE= -C /lib/modules/6.1.0-12-amd64/build M=/var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build  modules
make[1]: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-12-amd64'
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_cmd.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_security.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_debug.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_io.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_ioctl_query.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_ioctl_set.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_ieee80211.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_mlme.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_mlme_ext.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_mi.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_wlan_util.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_vht.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_pwrctrl.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_rf.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_chplan.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/monitor/rtw_radiotap.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_recv.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_sta_mgt.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_ap.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/wds/rtw_wds.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/mesh/rtw_mesh.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/mesh/rtw_mesh_pathtbl.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/mesh/rtw_mesh_hwmp.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_xmit.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_p2p.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_rson.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_tdls.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_br_ext.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_iol.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_sreset.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_btcoex_wifionly.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_btcoex.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_beamforming.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_odm.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_rm.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_rm_fsm.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_ft.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_wnm.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_mbo.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_rm_util.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/efuse/rtw_efuse.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_roch.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/aes-internal.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/aes-internal-enc.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/aes-gcm.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/aes-ccm.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/aes-omac1.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/ccmp.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/gcmp.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/aes-siv.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/aes-ctr.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/sha256-internal.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/sha256.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/sha256-prf.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/crypto/rtw_crypto_wrap.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/core/rtw_swcrypto.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/osdep_service.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/os_intfs.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/usb_intf.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/usb_ops_linux.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/ioctl_linux.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/xmit_linux.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/mlme_linux.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/recv_linux.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/ioctl_cfg80211.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/rtw_cfgvendor.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/wifi_regd.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/rtw_android.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/rtw_proc.o
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/nlrtw.o
/var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/wifi_regd.c: In function ‘rtw_regd_init’:
/var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/wifi_regd.c:409:36: error: ‘REGULATORY_IGNORE_STALE_KICKOFF’ undeclared (first use in this function)
  409 |         wiphy->regulatory_flags |= REGULATORY_IGNORE_STALE_KICKOFF;
      |                                    ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/wifi_regd.c:409:36: note: each undeclared identifier is reported only once for each function it appears in
  CC [M]  /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/rtw_rhashtable.o
make[2]: *** [/usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-12-common/scripts/Makefile.build:255: /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/wifi_regd.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
make[1]: *** [/usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-12-common/Makefile:2037: /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-6.1.0-12-amd64'
make: *** [Makefile:2506: modules] Error 2

Here is some information about my system:

** Model information
sys_vendor: Acer
product_name: Swift SF314-56
product_version: V1.08
chassis_vendor: Acer
chassis_version: V1.08
bios_vendor: Insyde Corp.
bios_version: V1.08
board_vendor: WL
board_name: Strongbow_WL
board_version: V1.08

Here is the output of uname -a and lsb_release -a:

[mike@dallben ~]$ uname -a
Linux dallben 6.1.0-10-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.38-2 (2023-07-27) x86_64 GNU/Linux
[mike@dallben ~]$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:    Debian
Description:    Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Release:    12
Codename:    bookworm

Best,
-Mike

[Marco]

Am 13.09.2023 19:07 schrieb M. Cuffaro:

> Consult /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/make.log for more
> information.

That drivers is incompatible with the current kernel.
How did you install it?
Uninstall it, then run the kernel update again.

Run
dkms status
And try
sudo dkms remove rtl88x2bu/5.13.1 --all

Be aware that this drivers seems to be for wireless networking.
Most likely your WiFi with that Realtek adapter won't work.
We need to find a further solution, but make sure you have an Ethernet
connection to connect o the internet!

[Tom Dial]

On 9/13/23 17:07, M. Cuffaro wrote:
> Hello all,
>

> I have looked around for an answer but was unable to find one, and was hoping that someone here could help me. *First, some background to my information about my question*. I recently ran

>
> apt full-upgrade
>
> on my Debian bookworm system. Because of what seems like a bug in dkms, the upgrade to linux-image-6.1.0-12-amd64 could not complete. Running
>
> apt -f install
>
> does not help. The uphshot is that, although I can still boot into my laptop using the old version of my kernel (either linux-image-6.1.0-11-amd64 or linux-image-6.1.0-10-amd64), I can no longer use apt to upgrade other packages on my system. Furthermore when I run
>
> needrestart
>
> I am informed that:
>
> The currently running kernel version is 6.1.0-10-amd64 which is not the expected kernel version 6.1.0-12-amd64.
>

> *Here is my question: How can I rollback the broken upgrade safely so that I can continue to use my system (in particular, apt) normally? Any help anyone can provide would be much appreciated.
>
> *Below are some further details. First, here is the result of running apt -f install:

>
> $ sudo apt -f install
> Reading package lists... Done
> Building dependency tree... Done
> Reading state information... Done
> The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
>   linux-headers-6.1.0-10-amd64 linux-headers-6.1.0-10-common linux-image-6.1.0-10-amd64
> Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
> 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.
> Setting up linux-image-6.1.0-12-amd64 (6.1.52-1) ...
> /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms:
> dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 6.1.0-12-amd64.
> Sign command: /usr/lib/linux-kbuild-6.1/scripts/sign-file
> Signing key: /var/lib/dkms/mok.key
> Public certificate (MOK): /var/lib/dkms/mok.pub
>

(material deleted for brevity)

>   CC [M] /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/rtw_android.o
>   CC [M] /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/rtw_proc.o
>   CC [M] /var/lib/dkms/rtl88x2bu/5.13.1/build/os_dep/linux/nlrtw.o

Your file "wifi_regd.c" appears to be broken. The version at

https://github.com/RinCat/RTL88x2BU-Linux-Driver/tree/master

had the undeclared REGULATORY_IGNORE_STALE_KICKOFF removed a couple of months ago.

Perhaps you need to update the driver source dkms is working with.
(I don't know about, or vouch for, that github, or know anything about the AC1200 or its Realtek driver.)

Regards

Tom Dial

[M. Cuffaro]

Thanks Tom. Editing wifi_regd.c seems pretty promising. I'll try that.

-Mike

[M. Cuffaro]

Hi Marco,

thanks for the helpful reply. I'll consider this but as a last resort.

Best,
-Mike