@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ report those to their respective projects.
 | Kernel | `7.2.6-skillfishos` (+ `-x64`) | yes |
 | Kernel | `7.2.0-skillfishos`, `7.1.7-skillfishos` | previous series, best effort |
 | Kernel | `7.0.11-skillfishos` and older | no |
-| Apps | `skillfish-*` `26.09.48` or newer | yes |
+| Apps | `skillfish-*` `26.09.49` or newer | yes |
 
 Fixes are delivered through the signed APT repository — `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade`.
 The installed system does not point at a single address: it carries a mirror list
 
@@ -33,6 +33,19 @@
   <pkgname>skillfish-base</pkgname>
   <content_rating type="oars-1.1"/>
   <releases>
+    <release version="26.09.49" date="2026-09-24">
+      <description>
+        <p>New kernels reach systems installed from an ISO: the package that brings them, skillfishos-kernel, was missing there, so the Hub never offered kernel 7.2.6. It is now installed with the next update.</p>
+        <p xml:lang="it">I kernel nuovi arrivano anche sui sistemi installati da una ISO: lì mancava il pacchetto che li porta, skillfishos-kernel, e l'Hub non proponeva il kernel 7.2.6. Ora arriva con il prossimo aggiornamento.</p>
+        <p xml:lang="fr">Les nouveaux noyaux arrivent aussi sur les systèmes installés depuis une ISO : le paquet qui les apporte, skillfishos-kernel, y manquait, et le Hub ne proposait jamais le noyau 7.2.6. Il s'installe maintenant avec la prochaine mise à jour.</p>
+        <p xml:lang="es">Los kernels nuevos llegan también a los sistemas instalados desde una ISO: allí faltaba el paquete que los trae, skillfishos-kernel, y el Hub nunca ofrecía el kernel 7.2.6. Ahora se instala con la próxima actualización.</p>
+        <p xml:lang="pt">Os kernels novos chegam também aos sistemas instalados a partir de uma ISO: lá faltava o pacote que os traz, o skillfishos-kernel, e o Hub nunca propunha o kernel 7.2.6. Agora é instalado com a próxima atualização.</p>
+        <p xml:lang="de">Neue Kernel erreichen jetzt auch Systeme, die von einer ISO installiert wurden: Dort fehlte das Paket, das sie bringt, skillfishos-kernel, und der Hub bot den Kernel 7.2.6 nie an. Es wird mit dem nächsten Update installiert.</p>
+        <p xml:lang="pl">Nowe jądra docierają także do systemów zainstalowanych z ISO: brakowało tam pakietu, który je dostarcza, skillfishos-kernel, więc Hub nigdy nie proponował jądra 7.2.6. Teraz instaluje się on z następną aktualizacją.</p>
+        <p xml:lang="ru">Новые ядра теперь доходят и до систем, установленных с ISO: там не было пакета, который их приносит, skillfishos-kernel, и Hub не предлагал ядро 7.2.6. Теперь он ставится со следующим обновлением.</p>
+        <p xml:lang="uk">Нові ядра тепер доходять і до систем, встановлених з ISO: там бракувало пакета, який їх приносить, skillfishos-kernel, і Hub не пропонував ядро 7.2.6. Тепер він встановлюється з наступним оновленням.</p>
+      </description>
+    </release>
     <release version="26.09.48" date="2026-09-24">
       <description>
         <p>A BC-250 left idle no longer freezes and restarts: the desktop put it to sleep after 15 minutes, and the board never wakes up from sleep. Sleep is now switched off on the BC-250; other computers keep it.</p>
 
@@ -846,6 +846,14 @@ applications read. It is also the one place that asks the SMU how much power the
 board, the CPU and the GPU are drawing, and publishes the three numbers for
 everything else to read. It pulls in skillfish-boot, which keeps the kernel
 command line honest: the board's parameters on a board, and off everything else."
+# Issue #103: the images carry a kernel but not skillfishos-kernel, the package
+# that apt upgrades and that fetches every newer kernel. Without it the Hub never
+# offers one: installs from 26.06.5 sat on 7.2.5 while 7.2.6 was out.
+# Recommends, not Depends: skillfishos-kernel depends on skillfish-base, and a
+# cycle would let dpkg configure the kernel before the base it needs. apt
+# installs a Recommends that is new in the upgraded version, so the next update
+# brings it in, and it does not put it back on a machine where it was removed.
+sed -i 's/^Depends: .*/&\nRecommends: skillfishos-kernel/' "$OUT/$P/DEBIAN/control"
 # base needs its own postinst: enable the watchdog and the freeze check.
 # NOTE: core-unlock is only *enabled* (never --now): it warm-reboots the machine when
 # it flips the mask, which must not happen during apt. It fires on the next boot.
 
@@ -238,13 +238,19 @@ for p in fastfetch alacritty; do
     && ok "$p installed" || ko "$p MISSING (SkillFishOS Info needs it)"
 done
 
+# Issue #103: the image had a kernel but not skillfishos-kernel, so apt had
+# nothing to upgrade and no installation ever got a newer kernel.
+chroot "$S" dpkg-query -W -f='${Status}' skillfishos-kernel 2>/dev/null | grep -q "install ok installed" \
+  && ok "skillfishos-kernel installed" || ko "skillfishos-kernel MISSING: no newer kernel will ever reach this install"
+
 # Issue #98: a unit with an [Install] section that nobody enabled is a feature
 # switched off in every installation made from this image. The 40 compute units
 # were off for everybody this way.
 for u in skillfish-cu.service skillfish-fand.service skillfish-sensori.service \
          skillfish-hub-refresh.timer skillfish-firstboot-flatpaks.service \
          skillfish-cpu-governor.service skillfish-core-unlock.service \
-         skillfish-sshd-keygen.service skillfish-wol.service; do
+         skillfish-sshd-keygen.service skillfish-wol.service \
+         skillfish-no-sleep.service; do
   if ! find "$S/etc/systemd/system" "$S/usr/lib/systemd/system" -maxdepth 1 -name "$u" -type f 2>/dev/null | grep -q .; then
     continue          # a unit from a package this image does not carry
   fi
 
@@ -226,6 +226,17 @@ def t_no_sleep_on_bc250(ctx):
     return "not a BC-250, sleep left alone (CanSuspend=%s)" % answer
 
 
+def t_kernel_package(ctx):
+    """skillfishos-kernel is what apt upgrades to bring a newer kernel; a system
+    with a kernel and without it never gets one (issue #103)."""
+    rc, out, _ = sh("dpkg-query -W -f='${Status} ${Version}' skillfishos-kernel", 15)
+    check(rc == 0 and out.startswith("install ok installed"),
+          "skillfishos-kernel is not installed: the Hub will never offer a newer kernel")
+    rc, rec, _ = sh("dpkg-query -W -f='${Recommends}' skillfish-base", 15)
+    check("skillfishos-kernel" in rec, "skillfish-base no longer recommends skillfishos-kernel")
+    return "skillfishos-kernel %s, recommended by skillfish-base" % out.split()[-1]
+
+
 def run(ctx):
     ctx.run("CPUs: all online before the check", t_all_cpus_online, ctx)
     ctx.run("packages: all at the release version", t_versions, ctx)
@@ -236,6 +247,7 @@ def run(ctx):
     ctx.run("systemd: our units healthy", t_units, ctx)
     ctx.run("systemd: units enabled by their package, ISO included", t_units_enabled_by_package, ctx)
     ctx.run("sleep: off on the BC-250, untouched elsewhere", t_no_sleep_on_bc250, ctx)
+    ctx.run("kernel: the package that brings new kernels is installed", t_kernel_package, ctx)
     ctx.run("AppStream cards valid", t_metainfo, ctx)
     ctx.run("menu entries point at real programs", t_desktop_entries, ctx)
     ctx.run("next update removes nothing of the desktop", t_update_removes_nothing, ctx)