Is it possible to go back to original 14.04 LTS kernel

[urdrwho5]

The computer in question is my play toy, not my workhorse. Years ago I installed 14.04 LTS and it ran well. Over time I have been doing updates and the highest kernel that I updated to was 3.13.0-100 with a fall back still installed of 3.13.0-88. Recently nouveau started giving my nvidia chips some trouble and that is sorted out but not running as well as it once did.

So I am thinking about trying to install the original kernel and see how the video preforms. Can I do it and what would be the name of that kernel?

[GreyGeek]

Upgrade procedures are usually one way, involving upgrades to make new packages happy. Downgrading the kernel won't reverse those changes and they could be expecting capabilities that the old kernel doesn't have. It would be better, IMO, to reinstall the older release from its CD or USB ISO.

Here is an answer from AskUbuntu:

It's possible at the level of the packaging tools (apt). But the resulting system may not be equivalent to doing a reinstall, and you may get errors along the way. This is because many packages contain specific support for upgrades (e.g. handling changes in configuration files) but not for downgrades. Normally, apt prefers to install the most recent version of a package. But you can change this through pinning: you can declare that packages from the old release have higher priority than the installed packages, so that they will be downgrades when you do aptitude dist-upgrade. Change your /etc/apt/sources.list to include only the old release (either edit the file or use your favorite GUI), and run aptitude update. Then edit /etc/apt/preferences (documented in the apt_preferences man page) and add the following lines (to downgrade to lucid): Package: * Pin: release v=10.04 Pin-Priority: 1001 Then run aptitude dist-upgrade. Every package has a priority greater than 1000, so every package that is present in 10.04 and installed on your system will be downgraded. You'll have to remove packages that weren't in 10.04 manually; they'll be listed under “Obsolete and locally created packages” in aptitude.

You can do a version lock in Muon or Synaptic.

[urdrwho5]

Seems that the easiest route is to re-install from disk and then as you previously suggested in another post, lock down kernel updates.

On a recent removal of a kernel and then re-installing it nvidia driver 367 was installed and it seems locked to that kernel. I tried to downgrade the driver to 352 but it wouldn't do it....kept saying that 367 is for the system. At least I'm not having the fan issue with 367 that I once spoke about.

Upgrade procedures are usually one way, involving upgrades to make new packages happy. Downgrading the kernel won't reverse those changes and they could be expecting capabilities that the old kernel doesn't have. It would be better, IMO, to reinstall the older release from its CD or USB ISO.

Here is an answer from AskUbuntu:


You can do a version lock in Muon or Synaptic.

[gtrip]

In my many years, I have always had Nvidia video and problems with any Linux or UNIX in long years before. Today, there are still some problems, but most have been resolved. I think, until Nvidia and Linux kernel programmers get together, there will always be a "tug and pull". Instead of changing Linux kernels, I would look to downgrade your Linux Nvidia. That has always worked for me.

Sorry that Linux is your toy. I've always felt Windows was a toy.

[urdrwho5]

By toy I meant it is on a box that doesn't do much work. Streaming radio stations, going online but no office work.

On my office computer I have expensive third part software that is Win dependent. Tried Wine, it worked but had too many issues to mess with.

Vid driver? I played long enough with Nvidia's X-org, grub setting, etc. and got tired of it. During the time of playing I had uninstalled the two most current kernels and kept the one kernel that has been the old one, on there for years. Reinstalled the one driver (not newest) that I had just uninstalled. I changed the desktop wallpaper to just a plain old color. The I purged Nvidia and went back to the nouveau driver. The good looking clean fonts and lines are now back. I've rebooted several times and no problems. Locked down the kernels and plan to stay happy.

I almost installed 16.04. One of the many, many, many computers in my sons's room is an HP laptop just like mine. One exception is that his is not nvidia. He says that 16.04 runs well on it.

Plus I picked up an extra 292 megs on the HDD that was being used by Nvidia.

In my many years, I have always had Nvidia video and problems with any Linux or UNIX in long years before. Today, there are still some problems, but most have been resolved. I think, until Nvidia and Linux kernel programmers get together, there will always be a "tug and pull". Instead of changing Linux kernels, I would look to downgrade your Linux Nvidia. That has always worked for me.

Sorry that Linux is your toy. I've always felt Windows was a toy.

[GreyGeek]

.... On my office computer I have expensive third part software that is Win dependent. Tried Wine, it worked but had too many issues to mess with.....

You gotta do what you gotta do. Sometimes there is no alternative but to run WinX in dual boot, or as a guest OS.

WINE was always problematic. One of its first problems was trying to keep up with Microsoft's DLL updates. You could spend days tweeking a WINE configuration for a EXE you were running, only to have it break when the next update of WINE came down the pipes with the new DLLs. WINE devs got around that by creating WINE "bottles", with each EXE assigned to its own WINE bottle. The "bottle" contained the version of WINE and the DLLs frozen in time. When you tweaked a bottle to make the EXE in that bottle run as well as you could make it, your config would remain because that bottle was never updated. You could test new releases of WINE & the DLLs by creating a new bottle. If things didn't work out you'd delete the new bottle and resume using the old one.

All in all the process is a pain in sundry places. It was, IMO, a lot easier to dual boot WinX or run it as a guest OS under VirtualBox. That was possible until earlier this year when Microsoft began shutting down validation websites for XP and Win7, making it impossible to re-install or run them as either a dual boot or as a guest OS. All in their grand plan to force Windows users to Win10 and their micro payment $$$ treadmill.

Luckily, the only Windows program I need to run, IQAN from Parker Hannifin, runs well under WINE in Kubuntu 16.04 on my older Acer 7739.

[urdrwho5]

I refuse to go to win 10 and their eventual software rental scheme.

I just have grub dual boot on the machines that need it.



[QUOTE=GreyGeek;395288]

.... On my office computer I have expensive third part software that is Win dependent. Tried Wine, it worked but had too many issues to mess with..... /QUOTE]

You gotta do what you gotta do. Sometimes there is no alternative but to run WinX in dual boot, or as a guest OS.

WINE was always problematic. One of its first problems was trying to keep up with Microsoft's DLL updates. You could spend days tweeking a WINE configuration for a EXE you were running, only to have it break when the next update of WINE came down the pipes with the new DLLs. WINE devs got around that by creating WINE "bottles", with each EXE assigned to its own WINE bottle. The "bottle" contained the version of WINE and the DLLs frozen in time. When you tweaked a bottle to make the EXE in that bottle run as well as you could make it, your config would remain because that bottle was never updated. You could test new releases of WINE & the DLLs by creating a new bottle. If things didn't work out you'd delete the new bottle and resume using the old one.

All in all the process is a pain in sundry places. It was, IMO, a lot easier to dual boot WinX or run it as a guest OS under VirtualBox. That was possible until earlier this year when Microsoft began shutting down validation websites for XP and Win7, making it impossible to re-install or run them as either a dual boot or as a guest OS. All in their grand plan to force Windows users to Win10 and their micro payment $$$ treadmill.

Luckily, the only Windows program I need to run, IQAN from Parker Hannifin, runs well under WINE in Kubuntu 16.04 on my older Acer 7739.