HOWTO: change or update kernels on a Live USB

[JayM]

Installing a different kernel in the Live USB is a wee bit more complicated than on an installed MX system where you just install another kernel then select it in grub's boot menu, as the Live USB doesn't use grub. However, it can be done fairly easily:

1. Boot with the live USB.

2. In MX Package Installer, install your preferred kernel from either Popular Applications/Kernels, Stable Repo or Test Repo. (If the kernel's headers aren't automatically installed you'll need to install them after the kernel's installation finishes.)

3. Run Live USB Kernel Updater and follow the on-screen instructions. (This is a terminal-based utility, not GUI-based, so you'll have to navigate using the keyboard instead of a mouse.) It will first prompt you to remaster the USB which will take several minutes, the speed depending on how powerful your CPU is and how many cores it has:

a. Select a General remaster.
b. Say no when it asks if you want to include files from the home directory.
c. You can bypass entering a title for the remaster by just hitting Enter.
d. When prompted to select a compression type, choose the default lz4 as it's the fastest.

(NOTE: The Debian 4.9 kernel isn't compatible with an lz4-squashed filesystem. If you've installed that kernel you'll need to select one of the other compression options, gzip or xz, when remastering.)

4. It will then restart the Live USB Kernel Updater process. Tell it you want to update the livefs then select the kernel that you installed. This will only take a moment or two to complete.

5. When it's finished, reboot with the live USB then run Quick System Info to verify that MX on the live USB is now using the kernel you installed.

If you have persistence enabled the remastering process will also prompt you to create a new rootfs and/or homefs after the remaster has completed. Upon rebooting you will be prompted to create new passwords for demo and root as well as select how rsync should save changes, just as it did when you first enabled persistence. Persistence is not required to update the kernel, however.

[Fornhamfred]

Running live USB installed the new kernel from mxpi, on completion ran Live USB Kernel updater output as follows:
Current running kernel is 4.19.0-1-amd64

Please select the system to update
= The current Live System on sdc1
Press <Enter> to select the highlighted entry
Use 'h' for help, 'r' to redraw, 'q' to quit
Will use running live system
Found linuxfs file linuxfs in directory /antiX
Squashfs file linuxfs uses xz compression
Found:
1 total live kernel (4.19.0-1-amd64)
1 default live kernel (4.19.0-1-amd64)
0 old live kernels

1 total installed kernel (4.19.0-1-amd64)
0 new installed kernels
You should do a remaster before doing a kernel update

Would you like to do a remaster now?
> yes
> no
Press <Enter> to select the highlighted entry
Use 'h' for help, 'r' to redraw, 'q' to quit

[fehlix]

Running live USB installed the new kernel from mxpi, on completion ran Live USB Kernel updater output as follows:

Perhaps you missed to run Remaster before running Live USB Kernel updater ...

[Fornhamfred]

Yes I think your right. The stick will not now install, during the installation of the new kernel the following message was displayed:
If next mount fails, revert to initrd.img 4.19.0.6 amd.old-dkms image. Is it possible to recover the live system?

[fehlix]

Yes I think your right. The stick will not now install, during the installation of the new kernel the following message was displayed:
If next mount fails, revert to initrd.img 4.19.0.6 amd.old-dkms image. Is it possible to recover the live system?

Are you saying you can't boot the LiveUSB.

[JayM]

Just FYI the Tips & Tricks section isn't for help requests and troubleshooting, it's for people wanting to share their tips. tricks and how-tos. In future please start a new topic in the appropriate help section if you need help following instructions in this board. You can link back to the Tips & Tricks topic when you do. Thanks.

[Fornhamfred]

Just FYI the Tips & Tricks section isn't for help requests and troubleshooting, it's for people wanting to share their tips. tricks and how-tos. In future please start a new topic in the appropriate help section if you need help following instructions in this board. You can link back to the Tips & Tricks topic when you do. Thanks.

My apologies but I was not aware that the post had ended there. I was following a link forwarded by JayM and did not realise that I was in that area.

[Fornhamfred]

Yes I think your right. The stick will not now install, during the installation of the new kernel the following message was displayed:
If next mount fails, revert to initrd.img 4.19.0.6 amd.old-dkms image. Is it possible to recover the live system?

Are you saying you can't boot the LiveUSB.

The LiveUSB boots as far as Starting Printing then just hangs