I am running Linux Mint 22 with Cinnamon v6.2.9 on kernel v6.8.0-53-generic and would like to upgrade to a newer kernel. I tried via the update Manager, but the newest kernel listed is the one already in use and I am wondering why?
- Are the kernels listed based on my hardware?
- Is my Cinnamon version too old for newer kernels?
- Is my Mint Version too old for newer kernels?
- Do I need to update my BIOS? I was too scared to do that in the past three years I owned my system.
Here are my specs:
- CPU AMD Ryzen 7 5800x
- GPU nVidia GTX 1060 6GB
- 16 GB RAM @ 3600mHz
- MoBo MSI B550 A-Pro
I quite new to Linux and don’t really know what I am doing. Therefore, if you need any other information I’ll be happy to provide it.
Is there a particular reason that you want to update your kernel? Generally, the best idea as a new user is to stick with the default kernel that your distro provides What Stable Kernel Should I Use. Given your hardware, I’d expect that kernel 6.8 should work fine for you.
I am upgrading my GPU soon, and wanted to prepared, if I’d need to upgrade kernel for new drivers. Flirted with an intel GPU for a bit and read that 6.11(?) was recommended. But I decided to got AMD so, that may be unnecessary now.
Makes sense. But for an Arc B580 you’d probably want 6.12 or newer (according to https://www.phoronix.com/review/intel-arc-b580-gpu-compute). Unfortunately Linux Mint is not that great for running the very latest hardware (and especially GPUs).
tl;dr Run
sudo apt install --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-24.04in the terminal to get the latest kernel version available (v6.11.x)Linux Mint uses whatever kernel the latest Ubuntu LTS (24.04) is using which happens to be
v6.8.x. Ubuntu LTS and thus Linux Mint will by default remain on this kernel version for two years after its release i.e. until the release of the next major version of Ubuntu LTS. This is for stability (hence the LTS moniker - Long Term Stable). You do get security updates and fixes in point releases of the kernel.So yes kernel versions are tied to your Linux Mint version. But Ubuntu also offers newer kernel versions, however those will be less stable so are not recommended unless you have some hardware that doesn’t work with your current kernel version. Just run
sudo apt install --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-24.04in the terminal which will installv6.11.x. This will also install newer versions of drivers (mesa) and other related stuff. Note that this kernel version is not fixed, you will get updated to a newer major kernel version every 6 months.*And if you have an Nvidia GPU, you would also want to install the Nvidia driver for the newer kernel. I think Mint provides an app for that (drivers or something).