Quick Details: Linux kernel 4.12, released on July 2nd, 2017, brought several hardware enhancements. If you wish to explore these improvements, you can integrate Linux kernel 4.12 in Ubuntu or Linux Mint. You can opt to utilize Terminal to obtain .deb packages and manually install them or leverage the Ukuu utility for a smoother process.
On July 2nd, Linus Torvalds unveiled the newest Linux kernel 4.12. This release is quite significant in terms of commits and added lines of code. Consequently, the total lines of code in the Linux kernel have now reached 24.2 million.
Key features in Linux kernel 4.12 include initial backing for AMD’s Vega GPUs and NVIDIA GTX 1000 Pascal acceleration support. Furthermore, this release introduced two new I/O schedulers. For more insights on this release, you can refer to a dedicated article.
Now, let’s focus on the upgrading process and illustrate how to add Linux kernel 4.12 on Ubuntu Linux, Linux Mint, and other Ubuntu variants. I will outline two methods. Let’s delve into them one by one:
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Integrating Linux kernel 4.12 on Ubuntu & Mint
Method 1: Adding kernel 4.12 using Ukuu utility
Incorporating or updating to a new Linux kernel can be complex for Linux novices. As upgrading to a newer Linux kernel offers enhanced hardware support and boosted security, everyone should have the freedom to do so.
To simplify this process for all users, I have previously penned down an article on upgrading the Linux kernel using Ukuu utility. You can follow the provided instructions to install Ukuu on your system. After that, launch the Ukuu GUI with the following command:
sudo ukuu-gtk
The subsequent step entails selecting the appropriate Linux kernel after the Ukuu window displays all the obtainable Linux kernels. Kernels marked with red Tux symbolize instability. As shown below, you’ll identify the stable Linux kernel 4.12.
Pick kernel 4.12 and click on the install button in the right panel. Post this action, restart your system to enjoy the enhanced kernel version.
Method 2: Adding kernel 4.12 using packages from kernel.ubuntu.com
- The initial step in this approach is to download the .deb kernel packages from kernel.ubuntu.com via Terminal. To do this, open a Terminal window and execute the following commands sequentially for 64-bit machines:
cd /tmp/
wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.12/linux-headers-4.12.0-041200_4.12.0-041200.201707022031_all.deb
wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.12/linux-headers-4.12.0-041200-generic_4.12.0-041200.201707022031_amd64.deb
wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.12/linux-image-4.12.0-041200-generic_4.12.0-041200.201707022031_amd64.deb
2. For 32-bit systems, execute the following commands sequentially:
cd /tmp/
wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.12/linux-headers-4.12.0-041200_4.12.0-041200.201707022031_all.deb
wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.12/linux-headers-4.12.0-041200-generic_4.12.0-041200.201707022031_i386.deb
wget https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.12/linux-image-4.12.0-041200-generic_4.12.0-041200.201707022031_i386.deb
3. Subsequently, install the .deb packages using the following command on your 64-bit or 32-bit system:
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
4. Following that, update GRUB. If using BURG, ensure that it is updated:
sudo update-grub
sudo update-burg
5. Upon completing all these steps, close all applications and restart the system. You can verify the installed Linux kernel version by executing the following command:
uname -r
By employing either of the two methods mentioned above, you can upgrade your Linux kernel in Ubuntu or Linux Mint. Feel free to share your feedback with us.