Kernel drivers

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siawacsh
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Posts: 189
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:32 am
Location: Ireland

Kernel drivers

Post by siawacsh »

Hi, I am using Mint 18.3 cinamon. Update manager is saying I should update linux-firmware 1.57.20. The last time I tried to update the whole kernel cinamon crashed and I had to reinstall the OS with all the hassle of data restoration. Can someone inform me of the risks of updating this firmware?

Cheers
SS
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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WharfRat

Re: Kernel drivers

Post by WharfRat »

I've never had a problem with a firmware update.

I'm running

Code: Select all

[bill@XPS] ~ $ inxi -S
System:    Host: XPS Kernel: 4.15.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: MATE 1.18.0
           Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
[bill@XPS] ~ $
And the firmware is

Code: Select all

[bill@XPS] ~ $ apt policy linux-firmware
linux-firmware:
  Installed: 1.157.20
  Candidate: 1.157.20
  Version table:
 *** 1.157.20 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main i386 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main i386 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.157 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main i386 Packages
[bill@XPS] ~ $
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Hoser Rob
Level 20
Level 20
Posts: 11796
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 8:57 am

Re: Kernel drivers

Post by Hoser Rob »

No one could say what your risk is without any system info.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong - H. L. Mencken
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gm10

Re: Kernel drivers

Post by gm10 »

siawacsh wrote: ⤴Wed Oct 24, 2018 6:30 pm Hi, I am using Mint 18.3 cinamon. Update manager is saying I should update linux-firmware 1.57.20. The last time I tried to update the whole kernel cinamon crashed and I had to reinstall the OS with all the hassle of data restoration. Can someone inform me of the risks of updating this firmware?
It's not the whole kernel that will get updated. Even if it was, if a kernel update is bad you can just boot a previous kernel from the GRUB boot menu, there is no need to reinstall the system

Same for the firmware update, in the unlikely case that it creates issues you can always downgrade it again.

Last but not least, you could use Timeshift to create system snapshots to reset your entire system to a previous state where necessary.
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