Upgrade kernel version

**sombrancelha** · February 11th, 2014

Hello,

I'm running precise, with kernel 3.2.0-53-generic. I'd like to upgrade it to 3.10, which according to Wikipedia, is the latest long-term stable release. From http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/, I see that Linux 3.10 is associated with Saucy. (v3.10.29) - is that a problem?

Also, is the process as simple as downloading the *.deb's and installing them? What are the potential problems?

**slickymaster** · February 11th, 2014

Originally Posted by sombrancelha

Hello,

I'm running precise, with kernel 3.2.0-53-generic. I'd like to upgrade it to 3.10, which according to Wikipedia, is the latest long-term stable release. From http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/, I see that Linux 3.10 is associated with Saucy. (v3.10.29) - is that a problem?

No, no problem whatsoever.
Canonical has recently updated Precise into version 12.04.4, shipping it with kernel 3.11, which is the Kernel running by default on Ubuntu 13.10.

Originally Posted by sombrancelha

Also, is the process as simple as downloading the *.deb's and installing them? What are the potential problems?

Actually, the process is quite simple. From here, download the linux-headers file that ends with “all.deb”, the linux-headers file that ends with “i386.deb” or “amd64.deb” depending upon your computer architecture and the linux-image file that ends with “i386.deb” or “amd64.deb” again depending depending upon your computer architecture.
Afterwards open a terminal window, navigate to the folder where you downloaded those files and run:

Code:

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

**sombrancelha** · February 13th, 2014

Thank you for the reply.

I installed 3.11.10-03111003-generic following your instructions, but I just realized that this was not a good choice. The problem is that I need to run perf, and it's very picky on kernel and tool versions, which need to match.

Perf is contained on the linux-tools-VERSION package, and from the repositories I can only install up to v3.8.0-35.

So here are my questions:

Can I just uninstall the *.deb's that I installed before and then install the new kernel?
Where can I find v3.8.0-35? It's not on the kernel-ppa.

**Bucky Ball** · February 13th, 2014

I generally use Synaptic Package Manager for this stuff because it's easier to see all related software, but you could do a search for the kernel number in Software Centre and uninstall the headers, etc. That will get rid of it. It is no major problem leaving it where it is if you don't mind it taking up not much space. You should still have your previous kernels available at boot. You can just remove it from the menu instead.

**sombrancelha** · February 13th, 2014

Originally Posted by Bucky Ball

I generally use Synaptic Package Manager for this stuff because it's easier to see all related software, but you could do a search for the kernel number in Software Centre and uninstall the headers, etc. That will get rid of it. It is no major problem leaving it where it is if you don't mind it taking up not much space. You should still have your previous kernels available at boot. You can just remove it from the menu instead.

This is a remote machine, so a graphical interface is not an option. Nevertheless, I tried removing with apt-get and no other packages depended on it. My only concern is that during the installation of the new kernel some configuration file was altered and now it won't be reverted.

**slickymaster** · February 14th, 2014

Originally Posted by sombrancelha

<...snip...>

Can I just uninstall the *.deb's that I installed before and then install the new kernel?

Since you don't have a graphical interface, here's what you can do. Open terminal and and run the following:

Code:

sudo apt-get --purge linux-image-3.11.10-031110-generic linux-headers-3.11.10-031110 linux-headers-3.11.10-031110-generic

Afterwards update your Grub:

Code:

sudo update-grub2

and reboot.

Originally Posted by sombrancelha

Where can I find v3.8.0-35? It's not on the kernel-ppa.

Try here.

**ptn107** · February 14th, 2014

If you're running precise (12.04 LTS) why not just use the backported packages that are provided:

Code:

sudo apt-get purge linux-generic linux-image-generic linux-headers-generic; sudo apt-get install linux-image-generic-lts-saucy linux-headers-generic-lts-saucy

that's the whole point of using an LTS release.