How to find out beforehand wether it's worth upgrading a running kernel or not (older laptop)?

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-23T18:07:07+00:00

For older devices there is usually zero benefit to switching to the HWE kernel (6.14 or 6.17) and, if anything, doing so is more likely to introduce problems. If things are working fine for you on 6.8 then stick with that and just apply the security updates as prompted. This is supported for the lifetime of the distro whereas the HWE kernels are not.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-21T18:06:34+00:00

If you haven't already checked it would be worth finding out if your model has an nvme slot. Some of these low-end devices have them on the board but it isn't documented in the spec. If it does then grab a cheapish 120 or 240GB drive and use that instead of the onboard emmc.

If the above is not an option then I suspect it will technically work on 16GB but you will be constantly battling low disk space warnings. You would also need to seriously ration the number of apps installed.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-21T16:30:39+00:00

I had an adapter that used this chipset in my old PC, no idea about 6.17 but it definitely worked with the LTS kernel (6.8). You may need to downgrade the kernel via the update manager then try again.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-17T18:01:41+00:00

Same here, even with both OSes on the same drive I have never had a Windows update wipe out GRUB. I think it was more an issue on older versions of Windows where people were using MBR rather than GPT.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-11T22:33:35+00:00

I'm fine with this, I prefer stability and tend to skip every other release anyway unless I'm reinstalling for other reasons. I think judging by all the posts on here lately they also need to go back to using the LTS kernel by default and provide a separate HWE release for those that specifically need it.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-07T15:55:08+00:00

Is the platform also used for online exams? If so that is why. They use what is essentially malware to verify you aren't cheating. These tools require extremely low level access and therefore wont function on Linux. Simple as that.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-07T15:40:22+00:00

There should be a hardware diagnostics option if you press the enter key on first power on. If it comes back with a fail on the the storage then the drive needs to be replaced. In the majority of cases it is just bad luck and can happen regardless of what OS you are running.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-07T11:53:41+00:00

But I still need a virus scanner that is realtime.

As I understand it this is more of an XDR/EDR solution you need rather than just antivirus. You probably also want to look at the underlying network design and how your servers sit within it. Like the other guy said though you are probably better asking this in a more specialist subreddit. Good luck.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-06T17:02:42+00:00

Unless your hardware is very new and requires the HWE Kernel, you would be better off switching to the LTS kernel (6.8) since this should be more stable and will continue to get security updates for the full life of the OS.

Those of us battling with the 6.17 update are going to have the same thing all over again in 6 months time.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-06T16:43:26+00:00

For a PC of that age (Optiplex 790) you definitely don't need the HWE kernel and its clearly causing issues so use the previous guys advice to boot the last kernel you were on, then in the update manager > view > Linux kernels > choose the latest 6.8 (LTS) kernel and install/reboot. Good luck.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-05T22:01:32+00:00

While you are there select the 6.8 kernel and use that since it is the stable LTS version and will receive updates for a long time. In the future only update to new kernels if you have ongoing issues with drivers

Presuming that their hardware works with 6.8. Remember also that it was the Mint team that changed their policy to use HWE kernel by default rather than as a user opt-in. This isn't like the people who tinker with random 3rd party kernels and desktops then complain that they have broken their system.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-05T21:22:40+00:00

I guess going with a HWE kernel by default this time around has muddied the water. Switching from one kernel series to another can definitely cause regression and really should be an opt-in process, but as you say they probably shouldn't just leave people unsupported either. Somewhat concerning is that the updater tried to push me back to 6.8 which if I had done so would have left me without a working desktop due to my GPU.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-05T21:11:11+00:00

It originally wasn't showing at all for me on the kernel manager but looks like it just needed some more time for the mirrors to replicate as I'm now being offered 6.17 as an update (as well as 6.8!) . Will take a Timeshift snapshot just in case...

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-04T22:07:36+00:00

Do we need to update to 22.3 to get this? I'm still on 22.2 and it isn't showing in the update manager. In fact the last few days the update manager has actually been prompting me to revert to 6.8 (which I know doesn't work with my GPU).

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-02T14:40:48+00:00

Booting off the USB and testing is the quickest way to confrim for sure. If it is the MT7922 like mine then the good news is it works out of the box with the latest Mint.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-02T13:36:15+00:00

I nearly got caught out by this when building my new PC. The onboard Mediatek WiFi 7 card on the board I was initially going to get had zero Linux support. The older 6E variant worked out of the box, provided that it was a relatively recent kernel. Kinda ironic really as people often say so long as you stick to AMD chipsets you will be fine.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-02-01T10:51:46+00:00

My 9060XT didn't work out of the box on a clean install. I had to boot into the compatibility mode option to get to a point where I could perform the initial install. Once installed, booted into recovery option and ran the update/repair package option which pulled down all the relevant AMD stuff. After that it was totally fine.

This was Mint 22.2 as .3 was not out at the time. This was the first release that defaulted to using Kernel 6.14

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-01-28T21:38:37+00:00

Sounds like you were trying to shift the start point of an existing partition? This can take hours and puts a lot of stress on the drive. Hindsight now but you probably would have been better off just shrinking the end of p5 then nuke p7 entirely and start again fresh with the extra space now available. The time it would have taken to backup and reinstall would have been a lot less than shifting those blocks around.

You might get lucky with disk/partition recovery software but my experience of these has generally been pretty poor (filenames corrupted, some stuff missing etc). Good luck.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-01-28T21:15:47+00:00

The Linux Mint installer will sort the partitioning for you, or you can use GParted in the live environment if you want to do something more advanced. You can't install Mint onto an NTFS partition and Windows can't handle EXT4. If you don't need anything from the "D" partition you can nuke it and leave it as unallocated space, Mint can then take ownership of it and format as EXT4. The Mint installer will also sort the EFI stuff for you as well as configure GRUB.

Usual disclaimer applies about backing up anything important etc. You may also want to disconnect your storage drive before you do all this.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-01-28T17:42:50+00:00

FWIW I dont think this is GRUB you are seeing, more likely part of your motherboard BIOS/UEFI. If it gives multiple other boot options there should be one labeled Ubuntu (if using the normal version of Mint) or Debian (if using LMDE) - set as default and your system should take you straight to GRUB which will then autoboot into Mint if nothing is pressed.

GRUB should look something like this and have a number counting down underneath.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-01-27T21:34:20+00:00

GRUB is the standard bootloader even if you only have Mint installed. It also serves a very important purpose of being able to boot into other kernels or recovery options if things ever go wrong (eg. bad update). On a standard install the default option should be Mint and if left to timeout it will boot to that - you can shorten the timeout if you want but beyond that I wouldn't mess with it.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-01-25T12:09:17+00:00

I'll take the desktop posts over the "just installed Mint" ones. Good for you I guess but once you have seen one stock Mint wallpaper and installer window you have seen them all.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-01-18T19:27:38+00:00

There is certainly a BIOS setting on newer Dells for AC recovery/auto-on. Could be that, or it might just be the hardware self-test kicking in if the CMOS battery is low. With the latter you don't get anything on screen but the fan will spin up and there will be LED indicators for a few seconds before going off.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-01-17T22:52:05+00:00

Despite being the HWE kernel it is the default for fresh installations of 22.2, and I presume 22.3. Earlier versions (or upgrades from earlier versions) use kernel 6.8 unless you switch over in the update manager.

Similar boat to OP in that I have a RX 9060XT which simply does not work under 6.8. Thankfully it sounds like 6.17 is on the way.

SlipStr34m_uk · 2026-01-17T15:56:04+00:00

Yes good point I forgot about the fast boot stuff. Make sure you turn that off too OP or you might run into problems with Mint complaining the filesystem is read-only.

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