Kali Linux full-upgrade now corrupts its boot process...

Not sure if this is a Parallels 20 issue or simply a Kali Linux one. My rolling 2023.3 Kali today found lots of updates and totally destroyed itself - the boot files are corrupted. One notable error of many seems to be:

update-initramfs: failed for /boot/initrd.img-6.8.11-arm64 with 139.

Out of interest I installed the 2024.2 Kali via the Parallels menu, which is fine until I again run (as sudo) "apt update && full-upgrade". Once again, about 1400 updates result in the boot files being corrupted. For example...

Setting up initramfs-tools (0.145) ...
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Setting up plymouth (24.004.60-2+b1)
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd. img-6.8.11-arm64
Segmentation fault
Segmentation fault
Segmentation fault
Segmentation fault
Segmentation fault
Segmentation fault
Segmentation fault
Segmentation fault

Just wondering has anyone else observed a similar issue?
I'll post a query in the Kali forums too.

Thanks and regards, M.

 

[UPDATE] There does seem to be a Parallels issue involved. I just tried again twice to install Kali using the provided Parallels "install icon". Each time Kali (2024.2) downloads and installs but the install process enforces the installation of Parallels Tools, followed by a reboot. Upon reboot Kali fails to initialise. This is on Sequoia 15.1.
I'll submit a report to Parallels.

 

Are you on M4? Currently you seem not to be able to install anything with M4: https://forum.parallels.com/threads...computers-with-apple-silicon-m4-chips.365676/

 

Ah, yes I migrated from an M1 Max to a new M4 Max 2 weeks ago. I recently read that Parallels couldn't host old macOS guests on M4 machines. FWIW I can run & upgrade my Win 11 and Fedora guests OK. I also found that Parallels cannot install from the official Kali ISO for ARM64 (it keeps failing at random places in the text-based install).
Thank you for the info - I guess I need to wait for an update.

 

New M4. Ubuntu from ISO or Parallels had seg faults at same location. Fedora and new Win11 installs were OK. I used apt to remove ubuntu-server and error is gone,

 

Thank you for this update. Cheers, M.

 

Kali fails to update on my M1 too. I let it run, came back, found a blank screen with a blinking cursor. Reset the machine and got some error when I tried to boot.

 

Update: I got it to work by installing Kali 2024.2 from within Kali then upgrading to Kali 2024.4

 

Update to all: I have submitted a formal support ticket, followed by diagnostic files, to Parallels regarding this issue (still unresolved on my M4 Max).
Just to clarify - On M4 Max I cannot either (1) Update the Parallels-supplied Kali Linux 2024.2 using "sudo su ; apt update && apt full-upgrade" [fails with multiple segmentation violations] or (2) Install from the official Kali Linux ISO file (2024.3) in either text or graphical mode [multiple random and nonsensical errors occur]. I'll post an update when something happens. Cheers, M.

 

Another update to all: Parallels support asked me to try installing and/or updating a Kali Linux VM with the "hardware" set to only 1 CPU (the default is 2 CPUs). In my case this was a successful mitigation; I was able to install a new VM using the official Kali Linux 2024.3 ISO, as well as update the Parallels-supplied Kali installation of 2024.2. I presume Parallels will work on getting this issue solved.

A reminder that I am using an M4 Max host (with 64GB of RAM). Your mileage may vary, but if you have issues try shutting-down the VM and manually changing the "hardware" to 1 CPU.

Also, I have no issue running Fedora Linux with 2 CPUs, nor with Windows 11 Pro (which auto-configs for 4 CPUs).

 

UPDATE ON FIX: Parallels today released version 20.1.3 (55743) which claims to fix the issue with M4 chipsets and Kali Linux kernel builds. My quick testing with Kali indicates that it seems to work now with 2 CPUs.

However, yesterday (prior to the new release) I started getting errors when rebuilding the Fedora 41 kernel. Reducing to 1 CPU doesn't fix it, nor does this new version of Parallels. The error occurs whether upgrading an existing old ISO installation, or using the supplied Parallels image and upgrading that. I'll lodge a support ticket and a new thread regarding that.