This affected me on 2026-11-01 too. My case matches comment #4, but the transaction came from PackageKit instead of the apt command line, so desktop users updating through the GUI also hit this.
System: Ubuntu 26.04.1 desktop, amd64, apt 3.2.0 (APT::Solver "3.0", the default), packagekit 1.3.4-3ubuntu1.2, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti with nvidia- driver-595-open 595.99.02. virtualbox-7.2 7.2.20-175154~Ubuntu~resolute is installed from Oracle's .deb, and its control data includes "Recommends: ... linux-image". No GKE metapackage is installed. From /var/log/apt/history.log: Start-Date: 2026-11-01 12:15:34 Commandline: packagekit role='update-packages' Install: linux-modules-7.0.0-42-generic:amd64 (7.0.0-42.42), linux-image-7.0.0-42-generic:amd64 (7.0.0-42.42), linux-headers-7.0.0-42-generic:amd64 (7.0.0-42.42), linux-main-modules-v4l2loopback-7.0.0-42-generic:amd64 (7.0.0-42.42), linux-tools-7.0.0-42:amd64 (7.0.0-42.42), linux-image-7.0.0-1008-gke:amd64 (7.0.0-1008.9), linux-tools-7.0.0-42-generic:amd64 (7.0.0-42.42), linux-headers-7.0.0-42:amd64 (7.0.0-42.42), linux-modules-7.0.0-1008-gke:amd64 (7.0.0-1008.9), linux-main-modules-zfs-7.0.0-42-generic:amd64 (7.0.0-42.42), linux-modules-nvidia-595-open-7.0.0-42-generic:amd64 (7.0.0-42.42) From /var/log/apt/term.log: Setting up linux-image-7.0.0-1008-gke (7.0.0-1008.9) ... I: /boot/vmlinuz is now a symlink to vmlinuz-7.0.0-1008-gke I: /boot/initrd.img is now a symlink to initrd.img-7.0.0-1008-gke With GRUB_DEFAULT=0 the next boot came up on 7.0.0-1008-gke. That kernel had no NVIDIA module, so nvidia-smi failed to reach the driver and the GPU fell back to nouveau. The transaction did not upgrade virtualbox-7.2; it was already installed, and the GKE kernel arrived alongside the 7.0.0-38 to 7.0.0-42 ABI bump, which fits the trigger described in #4. I removed linux-image-7.0.0-1008-gke and linux-modules-7.0.0-1008-gke, ran update-grub and rebooted; 7.0.0-42-generic and the NVIDIA driver work again. I have now set APT::Solver "internal". I haven't yet confirmed that this setting also changes what PackageKit installs, and will report back after the next kernel update. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2169247 Title: virtualbox-7.2 Recommends: linux-image causes APT to install arbitrary cloud kernel flavours To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/apt/+bug/2169247/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
