armbian-config/system/other fail, 3 issues on my system

FanDjango · January 18, 2019

Armbianmonitor:

I needed to downgrade from 4.19 back to 4.14 so I wanted to use armbian-config/system/other.

It gave me an empty list.

To fix that, in /usr/lib/armbian-config/functions.sh I needed to change the apt-cache command as follows:

apt-cache show linux-image-next-odroidxu4 | grep -E "Package:|version:|Version:" | sed -n -e 's/^.*: //p' | sed 's/\.$//g'

I added "-next-"

That gave me a list, finally.

Then the next issue:

apt -s -y --allow-downgrades --no-install-recommends install linux-image-next-odroidxu4=5.60 linux-dtb-next-odroidxu4=5.60

failed with:

E: Command line option --allow-downgrades is not understood

I needed to remove the "--allow-downgrades", no longer necessary, seemingly.

Finally, the aptitude remove command also needed to be given the "-next-":

aptitude remove ~nlinux-image-next-*${LINUXFAMILY} --quiet=100 -y >> /var/log/upgrade.log 2>&1

Then the process worked perfectly and after reboot, the downgrade became active.

Igor · January 18, 2019

33 minutes ago, FanDjango said:

Image origin: https://www.armbian.com/download

I am sorry but I could not find any Debian Jessie image for the download ...

Official OMV Stretch image with installed all updates = kernel switching without problems or code modifications

Armbian Debian Stretch with installed all updates = kernel switching without problems or code modifications

When you switch kernel, you need to freeze it otherwise it will be upgraded at next apt update / upgrade.

FanDjango · January 18, 2019

Ok, I understand.

But so sorry, I downloaded this image in the early days, more than a year go, can't even remember - could even be end of 2017, probably beginning of 2018. Right when XU4 support began in Armbian. Still have many XU4s on Jessie.

You used to have Jessie on the site to download. I am sure that you might remember.

This is Armbian Debian Jessie, OMV I installed myself on top of it. Been running it continuously ever since - and have no opportunity to Jessie->Stretch.

Nevertheless, I just posted this to inform you of what happened. I wasn't expecting any action - I solved the problem myself in a quick and dirty fashion, just wanted to pass it on.

I don't quite understand the paranoia - I couldn't have downloaded this Armbian anywhere else and if it is suddenly too old to be considered in the code, I will take that into account and update to Stretch as soon as I have time or choose some other distro, although on some of the other Jessie systems of mine, that move has many consequences for the software running on them.

But if supported Armbian stuff can just dissappear suddenly, maybe it would be nice to know in advance what the lifetime of Armbian Debian Stretch will be so that one can plan on that.

Igor · January 18, 2019

10 minutes ago, FanDjango said:

in a quick and dirty fashion

Jep And in such cases, support assitance can't do much. We only try to fix our errors, not yours

10 minutes ago, FanDjango said:

I don't quite understand the paranoia

It's not paranoia but switching to "I don't care" mode. We have do draw a line because this technical support is most expensive and most abused part of the project.

11 minutes ago, FanDjango said:

But if supported Armbian stuff can just dissappear suddenly

We can't possibly cover Debian Jessie upstream issues. That's why.

FanDjango · January 18, 2019

As I said, I understand. Everything is ok.

And now that I have been informed that Jessie is the root cause, I now know what I can do. I consider that to be friendly advice and good support. Thank you.

Quote

We only try to fix our errors, not yours

I have the feeling that my only error was to stay with Jessie so long. Similarly, another error some days ago was to upgrade from 4.14 to 4.19. All else is a direct result of those two bad decisions. I am not aware of any other errors currently.

So how long will Armbian Stretch be viable or should I go for Bionic, to have another years peace and quiet, in your opinion. Just opinion and advice, I won't nail you to it.

Igor · January 18, 2019

2 minutes ago, FanDjango said:

I have the feeling that my only error was to stay with Jessie so long. Similarly, another error some days ago was to upgrade from 4.14 to 4.19. All else is a direct result of those two bad decisions. I am not aware of any other errors currently.

4.19.y on NEXT branch seems to be a mistake and I am preparing a downgrade. Back to 4.14.y ... too many troubles.

3 minutes ago, FanDjango said:

So how long will Armbian Stretch be viable or should I go for Bionic, to have another years peace and quiet, in your opinion. Just opinion and advice, I won't nail you to it.

That is Debian people decision. We are good for another year since we will not move to next stable base right away. If you want to run OMV, you have to forget about Bionic. It will not work there. At least not without severe hacking.