New kernel through update ?

[armagedon51]

I post this question in another topic and didn't get an answer from the gurus here. It's pretty much for curiosity.
So is it possible to get a kernel update through the regular Mint updater ? If yes, does a bunch of stuff have to be recompile ?
Is Grub affected ?

[DrHu]

It's pretty much for curiosity. So is it possible to get a kernel update through the regular Mint updater ? If yes, does a bunch of stuff have to be recompile ? Is Grub affected ?

So is it possible to get a kernel update through the regular Mint updater
Yes, if one is ready in Mint

If yes, does a bunch of stuff have to be recompile
yes, If it was a big kernel step, say from 2.6.1 to 2.6.30 (several kernel versions ahead..)
one of the bigger kernel jumps was from 2.4 to 2.6, and we are heading towards 3.x.x, might not be as big of a jump (not just version #, but type and number of kernel/system changes..)
--but the distribution is unlikely to have such large jumps in versions, due to the fairly constant releases within Ubuntu, 6 month cycles for new versions (often related to new kernel versions, but not always)
Debian, on the other hand uses a rolling release, kernels are updated when necessary, and there is no new version released, just a continual updating sequence, it (Debian) is often installing newer kernel versions..

Is Grub affected ?
Yes GRUB is updated to use the new kernel image being installed
but the older kernel option is retained, it is not deleted, so that you can run it/boot if the newer kernel does not work correctly; the various kernel selections related to the GRUB menus are in /boot on the installed Linux OS
--since the kernel is not changed much between each kernel version within each distribution release, there is little to recompile apart from the kernel settings/system itself..

General information for the curious..
http://www.howtoforge.com/kernel_compilation_debian
http://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers
--example of a typical kernel change/compile option..

[altair4]

So is it possible to get a kernel update through the regular Mint updater ?

If you're talking about mintUpdate I believe the answer is no. Actually I would like a little clarification on this as well. I may be ( and very likely am ) wrong about this but I think in the Mint mindset a kernel update isn't considered an update - it's considered an upgrade and therefore wouldn't show up in mintUpdate. Of course, you could always go to Synaptic directly and under "installed ( upgradable)" you'd find any new kernel upgrades.

I think the only exception to the above is if there is some "off the wall" security problem that actually affects home desktop users ( as opposed to servers ). Then there may be kernel "patches" that show up in mintUpdate.

[rivenathos]

I concur with altair4. I believe that even with the Level 4 and 5 updates enabled, a new kernel option is not listed. To add a new kernel, you can use Synaptic to install it. I may be mistaken, and if I am incorrect, I always appreciate having the correct answers.