Opened Bug report
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1938983

no solutions as yet.

Losing WiFi connectivity after an update to the latest HWE kernel :
Has this happened to anyone else and (more important) is there a non-complicated way out of this?
What I found on Google on how to back out of HWE seems a bit iffy.

Remarks that I did find included

<quote>

This latest 5.8 update has caused a lot of issues for a lot of people. The most critical being breaking:

Graphics Drivers
Virtualbox no longer working. You can fix this by downloading straight from virtualbox.org but then that breaks Python.
WIFI Stops working

</quote>

All help gratefully and humbly accepted...

--
Mike R.
Home: http://alpha.mike-r.com/
QOTD: http://alpha.mike-r.com/qotd.php
No Micro$oft products were used in the URLs above, or in preparing this message.
Recommended reading: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#before
and: http://alpha.mike-r.com/jargon/T/top-post.html
Missile address: N31.7624/E34.9691

Henry Crun wrote:
> Opened Bug report https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1938983
>
That msg says you have a USB rtl8188.

> no solutions as yet.
>
> Losing WiFi connectivity after an update to the latest HWE kernel :

My understanding is that you can use the command:

ubuntu-drivers list-oem

.... to see if there are any meta packages listed.

> Has this happened to anyone else and (more important) is there a
> non-complicated way out of this? What I found on Google on how to
> back out of HWE seems a bit iffy.
>
I see a command to back out:

> To downgrade from HWE/OEM to GA kernel:
>
> sudo apt install --install-recommends linux-generic

There is a page:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack

> The Ubuntu LTS enablement (also called HWE or Hardware Enablement)
> stacks provide newer kernel and X support for existing Ubuntu LTS
> releases. These enablement stacks can be installed manually but are
> also available when installing with Ubuntu LTS point release media.
> These newer enablement stacks are meant for desktop and server and
> even recommended for cloud or virtual images. However, if one wants
> to remain on the original GA (General Availability) stacks, the
> options are:

Whenever I have a network issue, I like to see what inxi says, because
it tells me what I have and what driver.

$ inxi -Nn

Some Ub/s don't have the inxi script by default and some Ub/s don't have
the universe repo by default. Personally I don't know why that would be.

sudo add-apt-repository universe

(likewise multiverse, but that is less often needed)

Then update and install inxi.

--
Mike Easter

On 11/08/2021 19:44, Mike Easter wrote:
> Henry Crun wrote:
>> Opened Bug report https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1938983
>>
> That msg says you have a USB rtl8188.
>
>> no solutions as yet.
>>
>> Losing WiFi connectivity after an update to the latest HWE kernel :
>
> My understanding is that you can use the command:
>
> ubuntu-drivers list-oem
>
> ... to see if there are any meta packages listed.
>
>> Has this happened to anyone else and (more important) is there a non-complicated way out of this? What I found on
>> Google on how to
>> back out of HWE seems a bit iffy.
>>
> I see a command to back out:
>
>> To downgrade from HWE/OEM to GA kernel:
>>
>> sudo apt install --install-recommends linux-generic
>
> There is a page:
>
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack
>
>> The Ubuntu LTS enablement (also called HWE or Hardware Enablement)
>> stacks provide newer kernel and X support for existing Ubuntu LTS
>> releases. These enablement stacks can be installed manually but are
>> also available when installing with Ubuntu LTS point release media.
>> These newer enablement stacks are meant for desktop and server and
>> even recommended for cloud or virtual images. However, if one wants
>> to remain on the original GA (General Availability) stacks, the
>> options are:
>
> Whenever I have a network issue, I like to see what inxi says, because it tells me what I have and what driver.
>
> $ inxi -Nn
>
> Some Ub/s don't have the inxi script by default and some Ub/s don't have the universe repo by default.  Personally I
> don't know why that would be.
>
> sudo add-apt-repository universe
>
> (likewise multiverse, but that is less often needed)
>
> Then update and install inxi.
>
>

root@alpha:/home/mike# ubuntu-drivers list-oem
root@alpha:/home/mike#

root@alpha:/home/mike# /usr/bin/inxi -Nn
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
driver: r8168
IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 4c:ed:fb:bf:7f:ac
root@alpha:/home/mike#

I'll do a full backup tomorrow, and then try
"sudo apt install --install-recommends linux-generic"

Thanks,
Keeping my fingers crossed...

--
Mike R.
Home: http://alpha.mike-r.com/
QOTD: http://alpha.mike-r.com/qotd.php
No Micro$oft products were used in the URLs above, or in preparing this message.
Recommended reading: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#before
and: http://alpha.mike-r.com/jargon/T/top-post.html
Missile address: N31.7624/E34.9691

Henry Crun wrote:
> root@alpha:/home/mike# /usr/bin/inxi -Nn
> Network:
>   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
>   driver: r8168
>   IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 4c:ed:fb:bf:7f:ac

That is only showing your ethernet, not your usb wifi. There is also a
discrepancy between its alleged gigabit and up speed 100.

What does lsusb show?

--
Mike Easter

On 11/08/2021 21:27, Mike Easter wrote:
> Henry Crun wrote:
>> root@alpha:/home/mike# /usr/bin/inxi -Nn
>> Network:
>>    Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
>>    driver: r8168
>>    IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 4c:ed:fb:bf:7f:ac
>
> That is only showing your ethernet, not your usb wifi.  There is also a discrepancy between its alleged gigabit and up
> speed 100.
>
> What does lsusb show?
>

It does not show the WiFi unless I plug in the USB card. But if I do that, things start locking up (e.g ifconfig,
wavemon, any sudo command) and the only way out is to unplug the USB WIFi and reboot.
Being basically a lazy person, I think I'll just leave the WiFi unplugged, and hope for a kernel fix.
Sorry if I appear ungrateful, becase I'm not - thank you for your input, but I will just leave the Ethernet cable
plugged in and wait for a fix. After all, this is a bug of sorts, and 20.04 LTS should be supported (he says hopefully)

--
Mike R.
Home: http://alpha.mike-r.com/
QOTD: http://alpha.mike-r.com/qotd.php
No Micro$oft products were used in the URLs above, or in preparing this message.
Recommended reading: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#before
and: http://alpha.mike-r.com/jargon/T/top-post.html
Missile address: N31.7624/E34.9691

Henry Crun wrote:
> It does not show the WiFi unless I plug in the USB card. But if I do
> that, things start locking up (e.g ifconfig, wavemon, any sudo command)
> and the only way out is to unplug the USB WIFi and reboot.
> Being basically a lazy person, I think I'll just leave the WiFi
> unplugged, and hope for a kernel fix.
> Sorry if I appear ungrateful, becase I'm not - thank you for your input,
> but I will just leave the Ethernet cable plugged in and wait for a fix.
> After all, this is a bug of sorts, and 20.04 LTS should be supported (he
> says hopefully)

I was just having a discussion in another group about a msg I posted
over 6 mo ago about updating. I posted links to several different
articles pro and con on the updating business and the reflection on that
old msg caused me to read a msg I posted in a mint group related to Clem
Lefebvre's admonitions in the Mint blog in favor of updating.

However, the Mint update tool is designed to encourage each user to dev
a 'strategy' for how they are going to update and in all cases are
encouraged to employ the Timeshift snapshot tool to enable easily
regressing to an earlier system.

Clem said: https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=4030

I said:
http://al.howardknight.net/?ID=162878335000
Newsgroups: alt.os.linux.mint
Subject: Re: Keep your PC updated please
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2021 09:23:54 -0800
Message-ID: <i9fj9bF2g1aU1@mid.individual.net>

The 6 mo old article that I posted about the 'controversy' of updating:

http://al.howardknight.net/?ID=162878446100
Newsgroups: alt.computer.workshop
Subject: Linux kernel updating
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2021 10:36:23 -0800
Message-ID: <i7obl8F820jU1@mid.individual.net>

--
Mike Easter

On 12/08/2021 17:09, Mike Easter wrote:
> Henry Crun wrote:
>> It does not show the WiFi unless I plug in the USB card. But if I do
>> that, things start locking up (e.g ifconfig, wavemon, any sudo command)
>> and the only way out is to unplug the USB WIFi and reboot.
>> Being basically a lazy person, I think I'll just leave the WiFi
>> unplugged, and hope for a kernel fix.
>> Sorry if I appear ungrateful, becase I'm not - thank you for your input,
>> but I will just leave the Ethernet cable plugged in and wait for a fix.
>> After all, this is a bug of sorts, and 20.04 LTS should be supported (he
>> says hopefully)
>
> I was just having a discussion in another group about a msg I posted
> over 6 mo ago about updating. I posted links to several different
> articles pro and con on the updating business and the reflection on that
> old msg caused me to read a msg I posted in a mint group related to Clem
> Lefebvre's admonitions in the Mint blog in favor of updating.
>
> However, the Mint update tool is designed to encourage each user to dev
> a 'strategy' for how they are going to update and in all cases are
> encouraged to employ the Timeshift snapshot tool to enable easily
> regressing to an earlier system.

That's assuming you can get the machine to boot to a desktop so you can
run Timeshift. If you can't (and remembering this thread is about a
problem with a new kernel), surely the first thing to try is to pause
boot and select the previous kernel to see if the machine will continue
to boot ok from that. If it does, you know where the problem lies, and
should perhaps just wait for the next version of the kernel and hope
that boots without problem.

If it doesn't, then Timeshift will be the way to go. It's a great tool.

(snip)

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman wrote:
> Mike Easter wrote:
>>
>> I was just having a discussion in another group about a msg I
>> posted over 6 mo ago about updating. I posted links to several
>> different articles pro and con on the updating business and the
>> reflection on that old msg caused me to read a msg I posted in a
>> mint group related to Clem Lefebvre's admonitions in the Mint blog
>> in favor of updating.
>>
>> However, the Mint update tool is designed to encourage each user
>> to dev a 'strategy' for how they are going to update and in all
>> cases are encouraged to employ the Timeshift snapshot tool to
>> enable easily regressing to an earlier system.
>
> That's assuming you can get the machine to boot to a desktop so you
> can run Timeshift. If you can't (and remembering this thread is
> about a problem with a new kernel), surely the first thing to try is
> to pause boot and select the previous kernel to see if the machine
> will continue to boot ok from that. If it does, you know where the
> problem lies, and should perhaps just wait for the next version of
> the kernel and hope that boots without problem.
>
> If it doesn't, then Timeshift will be the way to go. It's a great
> tool.
>
The 'controversy' discussed in those old msg/s and articles I cited
raise the question of whether or not some particular updating should be
performed at all.

I don't have an Ub install I'm using right now, but I would suspect I
would be 'disinclined' to make an upgrade to a newer kernel whose
principle HWE hardware enablement's purpose is to help solve some
hardware 'problem' based on *newer* hardware that I didn't have.

That is, it isn't clear at all to me why one would make that kernel
'upgrade' that apparently led to the breakage.

> These newer HWE kernels are accompanied by a collection of userspace
> tools closely tied to the kernel and hardware, specifically X
> display enablement on newer graphics cards.

AskUb msg:
>
> Ubuntu updated to kernel 5.11.0-25-generic and will no longer load.
> It goes through the non graphic stuff and eventually goes to a
> flashing _ . That _ eventually disappears and vertical green lines
> flash on my screen.
>
> If I tell GRUB to load kernel 5.8.0-63-generic-boot, Ubuntu 20.04.2
> loads correctly. I am fairly new with Linux so please be patient with
> me.

That is, just because some kind of update is available doesn't
necessarily mean it should be exercised, particularly if it isn't
related to security.

--
Mike Easter

Mike Easter wrote:
> That is, it isn't clear at all to me why one would make that kernel
> 'upgrade' that apparently led to the breakage.

Apparently the kernel update had a 'security' label on it.

--
Mike Easter

On 12/08/2021 20:11, Mike Easter wrote:
> Mike Easter wrote:
>> That is, it isn't clear at all to me why one would make that kernel
>> 'upgrade' that apparently led to the breakage.
>
> Apparently the kernel update had a 'security' label on it.

Where does that label appear?

I just had the Mint Update Manager let me know a kernel update is
available (5.4.0-81.91. I'm still using LM 20.1). Of course, as usual it
says "No changelog available" when you click on that tab on the lower
half of the window. There is a changelog available, but getting to it is
not exactly transparent, and when you've got it be prepared for a lot of
reading!

In the Update Manager window:
View | Linux kernels | Continue | (Select kernel version group) |
(Left-click specific kernel) | Left-click on changelog

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman wrote:
> Mike Easter wrote:
>> Mike Easter wrote:
>>> That is, it isn't clear at all to me why one would make that kernel
>>> 'upgrade' that apparently led to the breakage.
>>
>> Apparently the kernel update had a 'security' label on it.
>
> Where does that label appear?
>
On an Ub page

https://packages.ubuntu.com/focal/linux-image-5.11.0-25-generic

> Package: linux-image-5.11.0-25-generic (5.11.0-25.27~20.04.1) [security]

> I just had the Mint Update Manager let me know a kernel update is
> available (5.4.0-81.91. I'm still using LM 20.1). Of course, as usual it
> says "No changelog available" when you click on that tab on the lower
> half of the window. There is a changelog available, but getting to it is
> not exactly transparent, and when you've got it be prepared for a lot of
> reading!
>
> In the Update Manager window:
> View | Linux kernels | Continue | (Select kernel version group) |
> (Left-click specific kernel) | Left-click on changelog
>
I like that the Mint update mgr gives me little icons for security and
system and such, but in Clem's article about improvements in Mint's
update mgr and 'policies', he indicated that more things were to come.
It isn't crystal clear to me how the security and system stuff can be
'mutually exclusive' in terms of there being only one icon for an item.

--
Mike Easter