2

Currently I use Ubuntu 20.04 with 5.8 kernel. What's more I got Intel Iris Xe graphic that this kernel doesn't support. I believe that this graphic requires newer kernel.

My question is as follows: can a kernel update do any harm? I mean can Ubuntu 20.04 work with 5.11 kernel as it works with 5.8 kernel? Will my system be stable after update or should I expect that not everything will work properly? Or if I want a newer kernel should I just update my Ubuntu to 21.04?

theMatt
  • 33
  • 6
  • Have you looked into HWE kernel variants already? – Levente Apr 22 '21 at 23:14
  • Upgrading just the kernel is possible -- it won't do any "harm" but if you don't know how to look after it, you could have problems later on. Upgrading it might require other things to be upgraded as well. Finally, sooner or later, you'll upgrade 20.04 and you'll need to bring the kernel inline with the new version of Ubuntu. So, it will work, but you should understand you might trade one problem for another later on. I would suggest upgrading to 21.04, instead. – Ray Apr 23 '21 at 07:55
  • Its possible to install multiple kernels, and choose which one to boot with. For example, I started out with Linux 5.4 which came with Ubuntu 20.04, and installed HWE kernel 5.8 when it became available. Right now 5.11 is not available out of the box for Ubuntu 20.04, so the simple option would be to upgrade to 21.04. – abchk1234 Apr 26 '21 at 17:20

0 Answers0