[Bug 2153501] [NEW] os-prober hangs on update-grub or kernel update

Wed May 20 22:20:54 UTC 2026

Public bug reported:

I started having this problem with the update to kernel version
6.17.0-23-generic. What happened is described here:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1566462/software-updater-has-hung-while-
configuring-a-kernel-update-what-do-i-do The short version is that,
while configuring linux-image-6.17.0-23-generic, it would look for the
different installed kernels and then run os-prober to detect any other
OSes, and os-prober, presumably while attempting to do this, would hang.
The solution, it turned out, was to kill the dpkg process, disable os-
prober manually in /etc/default/grub, use “sudo dpkg --configure -a” and
“sudo apt --fix-broken install”, then reinstall the new kernel packages
(just in case something went wrong when killing dpkg), restart, re-
enable os-prober manually in /etc/default/grub, run “sudo update-grub”,
and watch as it would run os-prober, which then ran with no hangs.
Success! (Note that before I did any of this, os-prober was neither
explicitly enabled nor explicitly disabled; I’ve read that os-prober is
disabled by default these days, but it wasn’t disabled for me, it simply
hung when it was ran.) I restarted my computer and indeed, the
bootloader gave me the option of booting into my other OS (Windows 11),
though of course I kept on using Ubuntu.

So, this morning, it came time to install the new kernel packages for
kernel version 6.17.0-29-generic. I told Software Updater to install the
updates, and… the same thing happened as before, where, when configuring
the new kernel image package, it attempted to run os-prober, and os-
prober would hang. So, I followed the same steps as last time (except of
course, I made sure to change "6.17.0-23-generic” to “6.17.0-29-generic”
when re-entering the command to reinstall the new kernel packages), but
now, os-prober still hangs whenever it’s called, even though I’ve
disabled it, restarted, and re-enabled it. Whether I’m running the
command to reinstall the new kernel packages, or running “sudo update-
grub” manually, it always hangs when calling os-prober. The only
solution for me, right now, is to disable os-prober manually in
/etc/default/grub, which is obviously not ideal for a dual-boot system!

So, yeah, something is going wrong with os-prober and I’m not sure what.
To make it clear: the expected behavior was for os-prober to detect the
other OS on the system (Windows 11) and finish and for that other OS to
be added to the grub boot menu, but what happens instead is that os-
prober hangs indefinitely (at the message “Warning: os-prober will be
executed to detect other bootable partitions. Its output will be used to
detect bootable binaries on them and create new boot entries.”). Let me
know what I can do to help fix this; I’d also like to know if there are
any good workarounds to make sure the Windows partition is bootable in
the meantime.

I’m using Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS on a ThinkPad P53. The installed os-prober
package is version 1.81ubuntu4.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: os-prober 1.81ubuntu4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.17.0-29.29~24.04.1-generic 6.17.13
Uname: Linux 6.17.0-29-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu3.8
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Wed May 20 14:32:39 2026
InstallationDate: Installed on 2024-12-08 (529 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64 (20240827.1)
RebootRequiredPkgs: Error: path contained symlinks.
SourcePackage: os-prober
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

** Affects: os-prober (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

** Tags: amd64 apport-bug noble wayland-session

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2153501

Title:
  os-prober hangs on update-grub or kernel update

Status in os-prober package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  I started having this problem with the update to kernel version
  6.17.0-23-generic. What happened is described here:
  https://askubuntu.com/questions/1566462/software-updater-has-hung-
  while-configuring-a-kernel-update-what-do-i-do The short version is
  that, while configuring linux-image-6.17.0-23-generic, it would look
  for the different installed kernels and then run os-prober to detect
  any other OSes, and os-prober, presumably while attempting to do this,
  would hang. The solution, it turned out, was to kill the dpkg process,
  disable os-prober manually in /etc/default/grub, use “sudo dpkg
  --configure -a” and “sudo apt --fix-broken install”, then reinstall
  the new kernel packages (just in case something went wrong when
  killing dpkg), restart, re-enable os-prober manually in
  /etc/default/grub, run “sudo update-grub”, and watch as it would run
  os-prober, which then ran with no hangs. Success! (Note that before I
  did any of this, os-prober was neither explicitly enabled nor
  explicitly disabled; I’ve read that os-prober is disabled by default
  these days, but it wasn’t disabled for me, it simply hung when it was
  ran.) I restarted my computer and indeed, the bootloader gave me the
  option of booting into my other OS (Windows 11), though of course I
  kept on using Ubuntu.

  So, this morning, it came time to install the new kernel packages for
  kernel version 6.17.0-29-generic. I told Software Updater to install
  the updates, and… the same thing happened as before, where, when
  configuring the new kernel image package, it attempted to run os-
  prober, and os-prober would hang. So, I followed the same steps as
  last time (except of course, I made sure to change "6.17.0-23-generic”
  to “6.17.0-29-generic” when re-entering the command to reinstall the
  new kernel packages), but now, os-prober still hangs whenever it’s
  called, even though I’ve disabled it, restarted, and re-enabled it.
  Whether I’m running the command to reinstall the new kernel packages,
  or running “sudo update-grub” manually, it always hangs when calling
  os-prober. The only solution for me, right now, is to disable os-
  prober manually in /etc/default/grub, which is obviously not ideal for
  a dual-boot system!

  So, yeah, something is going wrong with os-prober and I’m not sure
  what. To make it clear: the expected behavior was for os-prober to
  detect the other OS on the system (Windows 11) and finish and for that
  other OS to be added to the grub boot menu, but what happens instead
  is that os-prober hangs indefinitely (at the message “Warning: os-
  prober will be executed to detect other bootable partitions. Its
  output will be used to detect bootable binaries on them and create new
  boot entries.”). Let me know what I can do to help fix this; I’d also
  like to know if there are any good workarounds to make sure the
  Windows partition is bootable in the meantime.

  I’m using Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS on a ThinkPad P53. The installed os-
  prober package is version 1.81ubuntu4.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
  Package: os-prober 1.81ubuntu4
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.17.0-29.29~24.04.1-generic 6.17.13
  Uname: Linux 6.17.0-29-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu3.8
  Architecture: amd64
  CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
  CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
  Date: Wed May 20 14:32:39 2026
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2024-12-08 (529 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64 (20240827.1)
  RebootRequiredPkgs: Error: path contained symlinks.
  SourcePackage: os-prober
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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