( Sorry @keescase didn’t mean this post directly to you but @hoosfoos )
An additional (but optional) note:
you can create file /boot/grub/custom.cfg where you can copy any of those menuentry definitions from grub.cfg, and even change their entry names or contents.
This way you can manage e.g. which kernels are in the boot list.
Any of those entries in custom.cfg can be commented out if you don’t need them for some reason, and you don’t have to run the grub-mkconfig command.
manuel, cactux, and keescase - thank you all for your help, time, and effort this morning. It’s been a huge help to get me up to speed and better understanding of my system.
I did this, and meld is awesome. I first had to install meld, but that was easy enough. using meld, i brought back in the appropriate pieces from the backed-up grub file.
because I don’t have any other OS’s installed, I don’t think I need os-prober for anything. therefore, I’ve kept the #GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false commented out.
instead of using GRUB_TOP_LEVEL=, I’m instead using this:
GRUB_DEFAULT=2
I’ve uncommented the GRUB_DISABLE_SUBMENU=y line, so all my boot options in grub are showing up as a single list, and the linux 6.13.7.arch1-1 kernel is the 2nd listed item.
Am I right that this essentially does the same thing as using the GRUB_TOP_LEVEL= setting?
In any case, I really appreciate all of your help today. Thanks again!
True. Remembered wrong, it’s been a while when I last messed with os-prober.
@hoosfoos
GRUB_TOP_LEVEL is meant to set the default boot kernel. But GRUB_DEFAULT can set that too.
This issue is exactly why I never touched the “pacnew files” it would only cause issues and I would have no idea how to fix(i mean beside what was said her).
Sure Maby years down the line I will get issues from not merging pacnew files but that’s an issue for future me 
I don’t think I’ve EVER done anything with pacnew files at all. Not on Arch, Antergos, or EOS.
Yep.
I do, but I find that MOST of them are unnecessary changes.
Maybe then it will be time for a fresh install. Mark It Solved!
Well i am pretty new to linux too and still learning. Glad i jumped on this page. Never knew about pacsave and pacnew. In Pop! OS at least i never heard of it, which i used for 3 years.
Pop_OS is Debian based, they don’t do it this way. I don’t remember exactly what they do though, been too many years.
What I remember from my time using Debian/Ubuntu, during the update process, if there is a new configuration for a package, the user is typically asked if they want to keep their current version, install the new version, or display a diff to help decide.
I never saw that message in Pop! OS, i just updated the system and that’s it.
OK, but that is how dpkg handles new config files if there are any during the update process on Debian/Ubuntu corner of the Linuxverse.
Depends on how you updated. If you just used the Pop! OS updater GUI, you might never see anything. If you opened terminal and ran sudo apt update, you’d see plenty of output.
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
Entered password and sit back, yes i have seen dpkg messages but everything was just automatically installed.
So switching to arch based distro i noticed alot of different things, starting from beginning (re-learn things) and more control 
.