Upon reading the content of RPi5 about 6.12 from this and this , I was under the impression that it's okay to upgrade the Armbian 24.11 based NextCloudPi to a 6.12 kernel.
Well, I was wrong and the RPi5 current stuck in the RPi Logo on a black page. Net address seems to be 0.0.0.0.
I could really use some advice on how to restore this, perhaps some `chroot` method from another Linux machine to get the right kernel package and intramfs.
Here are the steps that got me to the current situation. Maybe a hint on how to restore?
1. Mark `raspi-firmware`, like what was recommended in 1st post.
sudo apt-mark hold raspi-firmware
[sudo] password for pi:
raspi-firmware set on hold.
2. Remove the old bsp for RPi5b specific package?
pi@nextcloudpi:~$ sudo dpkg --remove --force-all libraspberrypi0 armbian-bsp-cli-rpi5b-current
dpkg: warning: ignoring request to remove libraspberrypi0 which isn't installed
(Reading database ... 50983 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing armbian-bsp-cli-rpi5b-current (24.11.1) ...
Armbian 'armbian-bsp-cli-rpi5b-current' for '1-PC980a-V32ae-H032a-B6e44-R7697': 'postrm' starting.
Armbian 'armbian-bsp-cli-rpi5b-current' for '1-PC980a-V32ae-H032a-B6e44-R7697': 'postrm' finishing.
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.142+deb12u3) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-6.6.63-current-bcm2712
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8156b-2.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8156a-2.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153c-1.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153b-2.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153a-4.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153a-2.fw for built-in driver r8152
3. Install the newer RPI4b bsp package, which guessing from the 2nd post, including everything from 3b to 5b.
pi@nextcloudpi:~$ sudo apt install armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 1,515 kB of archives.
After this operation, 5,411 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/armbian bookworm/main arm64 armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current arm64 25.8.1 [1,515 kB]
Fetched 1,515 kB in 2s (1,008 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current.
(Reading database ... 50867 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current_25.8.1_arm64.deb ...
Armbian 'armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current' for '1-PCee86-Ved8e-H468e-B1e5d-Rf36a': 'preinst' starting.
Armbian 'armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current' for '1-PCee86-Ved8e-H468e-B1e5d-Rf36a': 'preinst' finishing.
Unpacking armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current (25.8.1) ...
Setting up armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current (25.8.1) ...
Armbian 'armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current' for '1-PCee86-Ved8e-H468e-B1e5d-Rf36a': 'postinst' starting.
Armbian 'armbian-bsp-cli-rpi4b-current' for '1-PCee86-Ved8e-H468e-B1e5d-Rf36a': 'postinst' finishing.
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.142+deb12u3) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-6.6.63-current-bcm2712
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8156b-2.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8156a-2.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153c-1.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153b-2.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153a-4.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153a-3.fw for built-in driver r8152
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8153a-2.fw for built-in driver r8152
4. I notice the initrd was still generated for the old kernel image, which is understandable based what is currently installed
pi@nextcloudpi:~$ uname -a
Linux nextcloudpi 6.6.63-current-bcm2712 #2 SMP PREEMPT Wed Nov 27 10:28:46 UTC 2024 aarch64 GNU/Linux
pi@nextcloudpi:~$ dpkg -l | grep linux-image
ii linux-image-current-bcm2712 24.11.1 arm64 Armbian Linux current kernel image 6.6.63-current-bcm2712
5. Therefore, I went ahead to install the new 6.12 kernel package
pi@nextcloudpi:~$ sudo apt install linux-image-current-bcm2711
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
linux-image-current-bcm2711
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 34.5 MB of archives.
After this operation, 212 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/armbian bookworm/main arm64 linux-image-current-bcm2711 arm64 25.8.1 [34.5 MB]
Fetched 34.5 MB in 5s (7,198 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package linux-image-current-bcm2711.
(Reading database ... 51028 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../linux-image-current-bcm2711_25.8.1_arm64.deb ...
Armbian 'linux-image-current-bcm2711' for '6.12.44-current-bcm2711': 'preinst' starting.
Armbian 'linux-image-current-bcm2711' for '6.12.44-current-bcm2711': 'preinst' finishing.
Unpacking linux-image-current-bcm2711 (25.8.1) ...
Setting up linux-image-current-bcm2711 (25.8.1) ...
Armbian 'linux-image-current-bcm2711' for '6.12.44-current-bcm2711': 'postinst' starting.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-6.12.44-current-bcm2711
Armbian: update last-installed kernel symlink to 'Image'...
'/boot/Image' -> 'vmlinuz-6.12.44-current-bcm2711'
Armbian: Debian compat: linux-update-symlinks install 6.12.44-current-bcm2711 boot/vmlinuz-6.12.44-current-bcm2711
I: /vmlinuz is now a symlink to boot/vmlinuz-6.12.44-current-bcm2711
I: /initrd.img is now a symlink to boot/initrd.img-6.12.44-current-bcm2711
Armbian 'linux-image-current-bcm2711' for '6.12.44-current-bcm2711': 'postinst' finishing.
6. Everything looked right to me as there are no errors like before got reported during update-initramfs:
pi@nextcloudpi:~$ sudo apt remove linux-image-current-bcm2712
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
linux-image-current-bcm2712
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 155 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
(Reading database ... 54440 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing linux-image-current-bcm2712 (24.11.1) ...
Armbian 'linux-image-current-bcm2712' for '6.6.63-current-bcm2712': 'prerm' starting.
Armbian 'linux-image-current-bcm2712' for '6.6.63-current-bcm2712': 'prerm' finishing.
Armbian 'linux-image-current-bcm2712' for '6.6.63-current-bcm2712': 'postrm' starting.
update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-6.6.63-current-bcm2712
Armbian 'linux-image-current-bcm2712' for '6.6.63-current-bcm2712': 'postrm' finishing.
7. As a final check, I ran the upgrade script again
pi@nextcloudpi:~$ sudo armbian-upgrade
Hit:1 https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/debian bookworm InRelease
Hit:2 https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/debian bookworm-updates InRelease
Hit:3 https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/debian bookworm-backports InRelease
Hit:4 https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/debian-security bookworm-security InRelease
Hit:5 https://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/armbian bookworm InRelease
Hit:6 https://github.armbian.com/configng stable InRelease
Hit:7 https://packages.sury.org/php bookworm InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
All packages are up to date.
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
8. That's it. After rebooting, I was greeted with a RPi logo on a black page, with some messaging scrolling (trying to attach a photo but failed). It never got to the point to boot the kernel image or systemd booting sequence.
