How To: Upgrade your kernel, painlessly.

[Kevin108]

I tried the same thing but my NIC quit working.

[AlbertP]

You'd better open a new topic on that, and please post the output of inxi -N in there.

[Kevin108]

No worries as that was multiple distro-hop sessions ago however should I try it again, I will start a new thread and shoot you a PM. Thanks!

[melbo]

+1

[LinuxPudina]

Thankx Kendall,

Following ur post I successfully upgraded to 3.4 Kernel RC6. Very very helpful.

$ uname -a
Linux computer 3.4.0-030400rc6-generic #201205061835 SMP Sun May 6 22:36:08 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[skelooth]

Followed post, got a 'bad return status'

Code: Select all

sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-3.2.16-030216-generic_3.2.16-030216.201204221935_amd64.deb
Selecting previously deselected package linux-headers-3.2.16-030216-generic.
(Reading database ... 226954 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking linux-headers-3.2.16-030216-generic (from linux-headers-3.2.16-030216-generic_3.2.16-030216.201204221935_amd64.deb) ...
Setting up linux-headers-3.2.16-030216-generic (3.2.16-030216.201204221935) ...
Examining /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms 3.2.16-030216-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.16-030216-generic
Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 3.2.16-030216-generic (x86_64)


from the tail of the log

Code: Select all

/var/lib/dkms/virtualbox-guest/4.1.2/build/vboxsf/utils.c: In function ‘sf_nlscpy’:
/var/lib/dkms/virtualbox-guest/4.1.2/build/vboxsf/utils.c:562:13: warning: passing argument 3 of ‘utf8_to_utf32’ from incompatible pointer type [enabled by default]
include/linux/nls.h:53:12: note: expected ‘unicode_t *’ but argument is of type ‘wchar_t *’
make[2]: *** [/var/lib/dkms/virtualbox-guest/4.1.2/build/vboxsf/utils.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [/var/lib/dkms/virtualbox-guest/4.1.2/build/vboxsf] Error 2
make: *** [_module_/var/lib/dkms/virtualbox-guest/4.1.2/build] Error 2
make: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.16-030216-generic'


Not sure, but i guess i'm going to see if/how i can roll back the changes I made. :shrug:

[melbo]

Just installed 3.4 Generic for LMDE and noticed that there is now a 3.4 Quantal.
3.4 Generic is working fine but I'm curious as to what would be the difference between the two and if it would matter for LMDE.

Any experience with the Intel specific kernels?

[AlbertP]

@ melbo: They are not Intel specific. amd64 is just the 64-bit technology invented by AMD that's also used in today's Intel CPU's and i386 also targets the AMD CPU's from before 64-bit was introduced such as Athlon XP and early Semprons.

One 3.4 is meant for Ubuntu Precise / 12.04, while Quantal is the upcoming 12.10 version which will be there in half a year. The structure of the kernel packages somehow changed - i.e. the difference between PAE and non-PAE has been dropped, everyone has to use PAE kernels on 32-bit hardware now, and there are new "extra" packages. It is possible that Ubuntu Quantal's kernel packages don't install anymore on older versions. This also happened with 2.6.39.2 on Mint 11 (Ubuntu Natty) for example. But it certainly won't harm your system to try 3.4-quantal. If your new kernel fails to install, the old one will be left intact.
Anyway, as long as the newest version is still available as -precise, I'd just use that one as -precise kernels are proven to work on Mint 12/13.

[Windowsfree2012]

I have an issue with my Realtek rtl8191se wireless card, it work perfectly with LM10 but I did a fresh install of LM13 and it connects and it 30 seconds drops the connection and cannot reconnect. I have been all over the wireless boards and had one suggestion to drop back to an older kernel. Sounds like it should work. If I do that with LM13, will I still have the Cinnamon interface?
Any suggestions appreciated.

thanks.

[melbo]

@ melbo: They are not Intel specific. amd64 is just the 64-bit technology invented by AMD that's also used in today's Intel CPU's and i386 also targets the AMD CPU's from before 64-bit was introduced such as Athlon XP and early Semprons.

One 3.4 is meant for Ubuntu Precise / 12.04, while Quantal is the upcoming 12.10 version which will be there in half a year. The structure of the kernel packages somehow changed - i.e. the difference between PAE and non-PAE has been dropped, everyone has to use PAE kernels on 32-bit hardware now, and there are new "extra" packages. It is possible that Ubuntu Quantal's kernel packages don't install anymore on older versions. This also happened with 2.6.39.2 on Mint 11 (Ubuntu Natty) for example. But it certainly won't harm your system to try 3.4-quantal. If your new kernel fails to install, the old one will be left intact.
Anyway, as long as the newest version is still available as -precise, I'd just use that one as -precise kernels are proven to work on Mint 12/13.

Now it appears that only the /quantal kernels are progressing and precise is still at 3.4
It could be LMDE but the /quantal kernels are not working on my i7 quad core

[florus]

Great thread, thanks; worked like a charm.
Two queries: Does the pae kernel offer any advantages to old hardware (core2 processor, 3GB ram)?
And why did the installer tell me that I probably did not want to install the 3.4 linux-image directly, but should use the meta file?

[mint4user]

Now updating to 3.4.4 or 3.5 (when it is release out of rc.) will it hurt the system or anything?From my reading I get yes and no on that. I know it depends on the system build (Thinking out loud.). But I was hoping more for software side of it. Will it fix a lot ubuntu issues with the kernel and all? Will it also make mint 13 run smoother? From read this article http://askubuntu.com/questions/100233/h ... ernel?rq=1 quoting "Neither the mainline kernel or compiling a newer kernel are going to have the standard set of patches Ubuntu applies, most notable is Apparmor." Also will apparmor not work when you update to the newer kernel's from what they said? I just want to know if updating to the newer kernel's will keep my system secure or just stay with current kernel 3.2.x and the issues that mint13/ well more ubuntu problems? haha

Thanks

[florus]

Clearly there are advantages and disadvantages to upgrading your kernel. Upgrading to 3.4 gave me a more responsive system with no crashes so far.
My advice would be to avoid being too ambitious. 3.4 precise is designed to work on Ubuntu 12.04, and hence on Mint 13. Leave 3.5 and 3.4.4 until they have received the same treatment.
3.4 offers definite gains as well as possible problems, but at the end of the day it is your choice.

[dinogorgon]

Hi, it seems that the mainline kernel updates do not longer work for Mint 13. I sucessfully installed the precise kernel 3.3.7 and 3.4.0,
on my 64bit MATE laptop, but i never managed to install one of the quantal kernel.

After some search i found instructions that (at least for me) seem to work:

Here you find the download links and installation instructions for the actual Quantal kernel for precise LTS:

http://packages.qa.dev.stgraber.org/qat ... /downloads

Here you can see which is the actual kernel:

http://packages.qa.dev.stgraber.org/qat ... /testcases

By now it is kernel 3.5.0-2.2~precise1

I gave it a try with kernel 3.5.0-1.1~precise1 first on my test-pc and it worked perfectly, so i tried it on my notebook and it worked as well.

Just follow the instructions in the first download link for installing and uninstalling. For uninstalling you may have to adapt the name of your kernel.
At least it worked on both of my pc's. The kernel 3.5.0-2.2 runs well, with my Mint 13 Mate on my notebook, no severe problems.
Google-Earth does not start with 3.5, and the wake-up-function from standby does not work properly - thats the only problems i noticed so far.

My notebook runs longer as it does with the 3.2 Kernel, obviously the energy saving functions fit better to my hardware.

[rdanner3]

Using this method to (attempt to) undo an apparent regression in the current kernels; my Toshiba Satellite A505-S6005 laptop's fan is not working AND ToshSet complains (bitterly) that the Toshiba extension is not installed. Up until recently, it all just worked. Now, I'm averaging 59 deg. C on the CPU, and no discernable fan activity. Maximum observed temp so far has been 71 deg. C, so I'm a bit desperate to correct this!

[joshg253]

Here you find the download links and installation instructions for the actual Quantal kernel for precise LTS:
http://packages.qa.dev.stgraber.org/qat ... /downloads

Just updated my HP 6510b laptop with Mint 13 x64 MATE to
/ 3.5.0-17-generic #28~precise1-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 9 22:04:42 UTC 2012 x86_64 /
using the link above.

Everything seems to be working fine including WiFi, Google Earth, and sleep/wake.

[HardBoiled]

And here I thought all I had to do was open a terminal and type #sudo apt upgrade ;or #sudo apt dist-upgrade ,depending
I have been doing it hap hazardly all along.
Thank you for the information about upgrading with dpkg -i.

[d00med]

I'm at 3.6.9. UpUbuntu makes it easy to upgrade the kernel with their script. Always works flawlessly here.

[eMcE]

Or use kernel installer "NeteXt'73 v3.50" from here:
PL version - http://netbit73.blogspot.com/2013/01/netext73-v350.html
EN version - http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... -v350.html

[Acid_1]

How to compile the latest kernels the Ubuntu/Mint way.

You can use the prebuilt ones in the repo, or you can build your own if you really want to.

Tutorial here