Updating the Linux Kernel from 4.4 series to 4.8 series +

[phd21]

Hi Everyone,

I noticed in Linux Mint 18.x that the Linux Kernels are in the 4.4 series, yet the 4.8, 4.9, & 4.10 series are now available. The 4.8 series is considered stable and is even in my Linux Mint Update Manager (Update: All are available now). From what I have read, there have been a lot of good updates in the newer Linux Kernels 4.8 and higher, so is there any reason to not upgrade to Linux Kernels in the 4.8 stable series, or 4.9, or 4.10 series?

How to upgrade the kernel in Linux Mint 18.1 from 4.4 to 4.8 (or higher)
http://linuxbsdos.com/2016/12/19/how-to ... -4-to-4-8/

Thank you

[xenopeek]

4.4 will be supported for the entire lifetime of Linux Mint 18.x. 4.8 is a HWE (new hardware enablement) kernel and those are supported for several months after which you will have to upgrade to a newer HWE kernel or downgrade back to 4.4 if you want to continue receiving security upgrades. If your hardware has issues on 4.4 it is worth a try to go with 4.8.

[phd21]

Hi "xenopeek",

Thank you for the fast reply!

What about users that have newer hardware, like within the last 1 1/2 years, would they be better off with the newer 4.8 kernels? What about some of current video GPU issues some people are having, some networking issues in the forum regarding adapters, IPv4, etc...

What about someone like me using older computer hardware, is there any benefit to updating the kernel to 4.8?

Linus Torvalds Officially Announces the Release of Linux Kernel 4.8

Linus Torvalds proudly announced the release and availability for download of the Linux 4.8 kernel branch, which is now the latest stable and most advanced one. Linux kernel 4.8 has been in development for the past two months, during which it received no less than eight Release Candidate testing versions that early adopters were able to compile and install on their GNU/Linux operating system to test various hardware components or simply report bugs...

A lot of things have been fixed since last week's RC8 milestone, among which we can mention lots of updated drivers, in particular for GPU, networking, and Non-Volatile Dual In-line Memory Module (NVDIMM), a bunch of improvements to the ARM, MIPS, SPARC, and x86 hardware architectures, updates to the networking stack, as well as to a few filesystem, and some minor changes to cgroup and vm.

https://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/10/ ... -kernel-48

...

[Pjotr]

What about someone like me using older computer hardware, is there any benefit to updating the kernel to 4.8?

Probably not.

On my older workhorse PC, "upgrading" from 4.4.x to 4.8.x is out of the question. All works perfectly well now, so there's no benefit at all in 4.8.x on that machine.

[Flemur]

I tried a 4.8 kernel (from update manager, IIRC) and my mouse stopped working.

The End

[sikejsudjek]

I tried 4.10 on my systems largely because I was bored and wondered what would happen to them ! (I have backups)

Skylake system - works well. No problems. Disappearing mouse bug seems fixed.

T410 laptop. Cinnamon crashed. Needed nvidia driver re-installed. Then the panel wouldn't work when clicking on it. Back to kernel 4.4

Dell 490 work station. Most stuff worked on 4.10 but weirdly a guitar tuner program running on wine wouldn't get the mike input at the correct sample rate. Reinstallation of the program didn't fix it. Went back to 4.4 problem fixed.


So out of my 3 systems its only the newest one that worked on the newer kernel. No surprise there I guess !

[samriggs]

On my Manjaro install I use LTS 4.9 with no issues, well except the realtek wireless but I fixed that by replacing it with an intel one since the fix for it isn't available until kernel 4.11
On Mint I still use 4.4 to keep things sane with the system, other wise I would jump to 4.9 and bypass 4.8 if it had LTS for the 4.9 on Mint
If I still used the toshiba which I keep as a back up it would only be 4.4 due to older hardware otherwise it would probably go bizzerk

[CrazyElf]

I'd recommend trying the Ubuntu Kernel Update Utility.

http://www.teejeetech.in/2016/04/ubuntu ... ility.html

You can pick what kernel version you want.

[Pjotr]

I'd recommend trying the Ubuntu Kernel Update Utility.

http://www.teejeetech.in/2016/04/ubuntu ... ility.html

You can pick what kernel version you want.

Better don't use that PPA, but the semi-official Canonical Kernel Team PPA instead:
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... ted-kernel
(item 8, right column)

That's as close as you can get to the official quality.

[sddfdds]

why arent 4.12 and/or 4.13 available in the update manager by default without adding another repository?

[catweazel]

What about users that have newer hardware, like within the last 1 1/2 years, would they be better off with the newer 4.8 kernels?

Some of us have brand new hardware released in the last few months, never mind the last 1.5 years. Many of us with AMD Ryzen gear need at least 4.11. I run 4.13 lowlatency and it's the bees knees. Of course, the drawback is, 4.13 essentially an unsupported kernel as far as Linux Mint is concerned, but that's no big deal because my googlefu is second to none

[Pjotr]

why arent 4.12 and/or 4.13 available in the update manager by default without adding another repository?

Because the kernel is the core of your operating system. It's only logical that its very heart and soul only can get updates in Update Manager from the official software sources, when those updates have been very thoroughly and rigorously tested. That takes time.

If you can't wait: I've checked the Canonical Kernel Team PPA on Launchpad, and apparently those intrepid explorers can already give you the 4.13: https://launchpad.net/~canonical-kernel ... ubuntu/ppa

[mr_raider]

why arent 4.12 and/or 4.13 available in the update manager by default without adding another repository?

4.11 is available. I use it on my Ryzen system. 4.12 will show up in October when Ubuntu 17.10 is released

[vigvigler]

very helpful thread, thanks