Upgrading to linux kernel 5.8

[debuser12]

Hi,

I am a recent Debian buster user and use a AMD Ryzen based processor. My system could really use the features in Linux Kernel 5.8 (ryzen performance and power management fixes)

I managed to upgrade to kernel 5.7 via backports but don't know how to upgrade to 5.8 or the latest kernel possible

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[sickpig]

I do not suppose Debian stable officially supports installing mainline kernels which are not packaged by team Debian. If you really need something which is not supported in your operating system then it would serve you better to change to something which does support the kernel you want/need. Rather than potentially borking your system.

[cuckooflew]

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page= ... ures&num=1Linux Kernel 5.8 (ryzen performance and power management fixes)
Given the release timeline for Linux 5.8, this will likely be the kernel version shipped by the likes of Ubuntu 20.10 and Fedora 33 this autumn. Here are the highlights for Linux 5.8 based on my original reporting.

My system could really use the features in Linux Kernel 5.8

I also have a hard time understanding the logic in using Debian, if you don't like the kernel it uses, etc.
My system works fine with Debian , as it is, BUT, it works even better with OpenBsd, so I use OpenBsd as my main system, and host my Debian systems on VM's, but any way, every one has their way , likes and dislikes,

by debuser12 » but don't know how to upgrade to 5.8 or the latest kernel possible

Guess you will have to learn how upgrade to it, if you want to use it. I am sure there is documentation on how to do that...but if you can not even look for the documentation, read it, etc,...you will just need to wait a while, and use Ubuntu or Fedora ,when they start using it,..or wait until someone does it for you , on your Debian system.
I did this for you, but the rest is up to you:
How to upgrade or install Linux 5.8, kernel on Debian 10
And there is information in the results, including the Debian wiki, which has links to how to get and install unsupported kernels.

[sgosnell]

You can just download it and install it. 5.8 is in the Sid repositories, and perhaps newer in Experimental. You can find them through debian.org, or you can go to kernel.org for the absolute latest. Download the .deb file and use dpkg, or gdebi if you have it installed, to install that. You probably also need the updated firmware to match it. I installed the 5.8 kernel on my Buster machine some time back, and it works fine. If your system won't boot from a new kernel, the previous kernel is still in place, and you can boot from it. My system running Sid won't even load the desktop without a 5-series kernel because it's so new. I see no harm in installing newer kernels, and I've been doing it for years. I like Debian, and I've been running it for more than a decade, but the stable branch is always a few years behind, so it makes sense to me to update some things. Debian Stable is called stable because it doesn't change. Sometimes change is good, or even required, and kittens don't die just because someone installs something new on it. For my everyday driver, I run Sid, but for the backup machine which is mostly an NFS server, I run stable because I don't want to do the daily updates Sid really needs. But I run a new kernel on it just because I can.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

You can just download it and install it. 5.8 is in the Sid repositories, and perhaps newer in Experimental. You can find them through debian.org, or you can go to kernel.org for the absolute latest. Download the .deb file and use dpkg, or gdebi if you have it installed, to install that. You probably also need the updated firmware to match it. I installed the 5.8 kernel on my Buster machine some time back, and it works fine.

That method will result in an outdated kernel because it will never be updated. Given the number of vulnerabilities that are published (and hence known by potential attackers) this is not a good idea.

I managed to upgrade to kernel 5.7 via backports but don't know how to upgrade to 5.8 or the latest kernel possible

Just wait a week or two, the backported kernel is drawn from testing and sid just got version 5.8 three days ago. There is a 10-14 day transition delay from unstable to testing and the backport should be updated shortly afterwards. And yes, the backported kernel will also be outdated but at least it will be updated (as long as the metapackage is installed) so that it's never more than a few weeks behind the current mainline version.

[Bulkley]

Don't forget Liquorix. They have 5.8. It is easy to install a Liquorix kernel and easy to remove it if you don't like it.

[4D696B65]

5.8 is in sid today

[stevepusser]

Plus most out-of-tree DKMS packages will also need to be upgraded to work with a new kernel.

[reinob]

On my home desktop computer I actually use the mainline kernel. Every time there's an update at kernel.org I download it, compile it and install it. Nowadays it takes a couple of minutes, compared to the 10-15min it could take in the 90s...

I don't know why I started again. I think it was when 5.6 came out, to have the Wireguard module built into the kernel without using DKMS. I also wanted to have most essential modules built-in, for absolutely non-sensical reasons I cannot quite comprehend, let alone explain :)

I would not do this for a server, and I can only recommend it if you are willing to keep updating it all the time, or if you have a very good (or weird, unexplainable) reason..

[stevepusser]

Most of the swarm of Nvidia drivers in the non-free section upstream have now been upgraded or patched to build on 5.8 kernels, so they probably will make their way into backports or main eventually. I just finished a backport of nvidia-driver 450.66 for MX Linux, and it continues to work with Bumblebee and Wine on my MSI Optimus laptop. It also needs backports of bbswitch, nvidia-modprobe, and glx-alternatives.

[debuser12]

So I upgraded to kernel 5.8. As a complete novice, I ran the deb for 5.8 kernel from the deb website, and the headers.

My computer hasn't exploded and everything seems to be working fine! So i'm calling it a win in my books

[debuser12]

I do have this weird bug that the power and settings button has disappeared after switching the kernel?? But maybe it was because of something else?

attached screenshot