I did an update to kernel 2.6.27.21, and it destroyed my OpenSuse 11.1 Installation. I could not boot. I tried the “Repair” Function of may Suse DVD, but nothing worked. So I did a fresh install.
My Software now again tells me to do the kernel update (which makes sense) but I did not do it because of the total system crash when I did it the first time.
Does anybody have an idea why this could be? I did notjing fancy, just installed 11.1, did all the updates. Since I’m a Newbee to Linux I did not fiddle with anything…
When you say you had a “total system crash”, what do you mean precisely by that? Usually, the most common problem from a kernel update is having to rebuild the graphics driver. Please explain exactly what your problem was, when your system was “destroyed”.
Simple. I did the update and tried to reboot. Which the system did not do. after about 15 seconds into the boot sequence i got a blank screen, and that was that.
the rescue feature on the dvd found an error in the bootloader but could not repair it.
(OT: linux is the only OS i have installed, nevertheless does it start with a bootloader, and there is a “windows 1” and “windows 2”. Is that because of the two NTFS Partitions that i have? can I switch off the bootloader somehow? or at least delete the “windows” entries?)
The blank screen meant that the XServer was not started, I had something similar last week. What i did was to type at the boot time sax2 -r -m 0=vesa. that gave a very basic X window and then I reinstalled my graphic card and my monitor via Yast.
I don’t believe your installation is screwed up, I believe that X has started with a bad configuration, which is causing your black screen.
Try Ctrl+alt+f1, and see if you get a terminal login prompt, If you do, than your installation is perfectly O.K, you just need to rebuild your graphics driver. Depending on your hardware, this is a simple procedure. I would suggest downloading a copy of your current graphics driver, updating the kernel, let the screen go black, switch to terminal via ctrl+alt+f1, and re-install the driver. This should fix your problem.
If you need more help, let me know what kind of graphics card you have, and if your running 32 bit, or 64 bit. I will than post step by step instructions for you.