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Re: [Sheflug] Help!!!!!

Hi Ruth,

It is a long time since i had this. That error message usually means that
the intiramfs has failed for that kernel.

In your grub menu do you have the option to load a previous kernel but note
down the version number that is failing and the version number that is
working.

Open a terminal and run

  uname -r

To prove the kernel you are able to run.
Now you need to find the packages for your dead kernel

dpkg --list 'linux-image*' 'linux-headers*' | grep -i x.y*

Where x.y is the latest broken version.
You should get a list saying linux-headers-x.y and linux-image-x.y
You can now get rid of these broken files with

sudo apt purge linux-headers-x.y linux-image-x.y

You can also add any other files it lists with the bad version number.

Now you can try to have the system fix the packages with

sudo apt --fix-broken install

Then clear up the system

sudo apt autoremove --purge

Now you can update your grub menu with

sudo update-grub

You should now be able to reboot
There is a post for cinnamon that has the same error code due to a bad iso
image at
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/comments/1t8h3u6/kernel_panic_unable_to_mount_root_fs_on_unknown/

Regards
John



On Fri, 14 Aug 2026, 15:41 Ruth Gunstone, <ruth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
> My laptop, running Linux Mint Cinnamon, just did a load of updates. When
> I rebooted it, I got:
>
>                     KERNEL PANIC!
>             Please reboot your computer
> VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)
>
>
> All subsequent reboots have same result.
>
> Any hints/suggestions? (Other than wipe the drive and start again!!)
>
> Thanks :-)
>
>
>
> --
> Ruth Gunstone
> Audio Visual Services
> 07870 993379
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sheffield Linux User's Group
> http://sheflug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sheflug_sheflug.org.uk
> FAQ at: http://www.sheflug.org.uk/mailfaq.html
>
> GNU - The Choice of a Complete Generation
>
_______________________________________________
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http://sheflug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/sheflug_sheflug.org.uk
FAQ at: http://www.sheflug.org.uk/mailfaq.html

GNU - The Choice of a Complete Generation