[arch-general] Kernel upgrades question, as can't revert to earlier kernel

[Nigel Henry]

On Wednesday 28 May 2008 23:47, Aaron Griffin wrote:
> On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 4:35 PM, Nigel Henry
>
> <cave.dnb2m97pp at aliceadsl.fr> wrote:
> > I've noticed for some time now that some distros are upgrading the
> > current running kernel, rather than installing a new kernel version,
> > which if there are problems with the new kernel, you could boot the
> > earlier kernel, which you know was working ok.
> >
> > I'm currently updating my Don't Panic install, and there is a kernel
> > update to 2.6.25.4-1 , and 21% done so far. Is there some way that this
> > latest kernel version can be installed as a new kernel, and leave the
> > existing one alone?
> >
> > I don't like this way of updating the kernel, as you have no way of
> > booting to the earlier one if the latest version is problematic.
> >
> > 26% done now.
> >
> > Nigel.
>
> We don't really support this due to the sheer hassle, but it is easy
> enough to downgrade to an old kernel, as all packages are kept in a
> cache on your machine. If a new kernel borks for you, just pacman -U
> the right files from /var/cache/pacman/pkg

Thanks for all the suggestions folks. I'll just let the upgrade run for now, 
and hope that the 2.6.25 kernel doesn't screw my sounds up.

I'll look at all your suggestions again tomorrow, as it's getting a bit late 
here now.

Thanks again for the amazingly quick responses.

Nigel.