Avoid missing kernel linux-modules-extra-XX-generic when updating kernel

kernel updates unattended-upgrades

10,378

Solution 1

You need to have linux-generic meta package installed.

It will pull all other necessary kernel packages including modules, modules-extra, headers, etc.

This package may be missing if you manually removed some kernel packages.

To fix issues with missing kernel packages run in a terminal:

sudo apt install linux-generic

Solution 2

This problem happens when a system that was upgraded, but the hardware modules got moved to the HWE layer. APT will keep the auto-install marked for the linux-generic meta package, but you need it to instead use linux-generic-hwe-20.04 meta, so that linux-modules-extra-... and linux-headers-generic-hwe... are installed automatically.

Fix it by running

sudo apt install linux-generic-hwe-20.04

10,378

Author by

sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio

user245595 Part of the story about Monica Cellio. Parties in a dispute have usually better chance by talking to each other (not infallible, but worth a try). https://judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5193/stack-overflow-inc-sinat-chinam-and-the-goat-for-azazel

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio almost 2 years
I had this issue with sound Only "Dummy output" (sound) in Ubuntu 20.04 after reboot - Broken driver / module after a reboot. I was missing package linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-40-generic.

Now I rebooted again (I ~~am not sure~~ think I know if I also rebooted at some point in between), and I had no sound or wifi. I checked and now I have kernel 5.4.0-42.46, and I didn't have linux-modules-extra-5.4.0-42-generic. So I guessed there was an automatic kernel update (I don't recall doing it myself), without installing that package, waiting for me to reboot and suffer from the missing package.

My questions are:
1. Why would an automatic kernel update not install linux-modules-extra?
2. Can I configure my system to have the package installed whenever an update takes place?
Related:

Kernel modules missing after update to 5.4.0-37

What is the linux-image-extra package for and do I need it?
- nobody almost 4 years
  
  is package linux-generic on your system? apt list --installed | egrep '^linux'
- sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio almost 4 years
  
  @nobody - I have no package linux-generic. It seems to have only two doc files: changelog.gz, copyright. Why do you ask?
sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio almost 4 years

Do I also need linux-generic-hwe?
Pilot6 almost 4 years

At the moment there is no difference between linux-generic and linux-generic-hwe-20.04. It will make difference in the future when HWE kernels appear.
Konrad Botor over 3 years

It makes a difference with kernel 5.8.0 - without linux-generic-hwe-20.04 one needs to manually install linux-modules-extra after each kernel upgrade.
sancho.s ReinstateMonicaCellio over 3 years

With kernel 5.8.0-43, I have now installed linux-generic and linux-generic-hwe-20.04. I will wait until the next update to confirm whether everything gets updated automatically.
Rodney over 3 years

I confirm I need linux-generic-hwe-20.04 as discussed. I wonder if the answer should be edited, but I feel this package is specific to 20.04 so maybe a more generic answer is required. Without this metapackage, Kernel updates break my networking, which means I can't get online to read this post nor download the required packages. It seems that Ubuntu's it should just work mantra is becoming a more and more distant memory.