Hi,
I noticed that Manjaro now runs on 6.12 - but there are kernels for much recent versions (such as 6.19).
If I were to install such kernel, would the related packages (i.e. Nvidia drivers, virtualbox host etc etc) get also updated/installed for this version of the kernel too?
Thanks!
If you install the new kernel by way of mhwd-kernel or the manjaro-settings-manager, then yes, it should normally pull in all the required modules.
If on the other hand you install the new kernel by way of pacman or pamac, then you have to go through all of the steps manually, including the rebuilding of your initramfs and updating the grub configuration.
pamac is also able to install additional kernel modules when the UX version is used.
It is my experience that using mhwd-kernel will pull the equivalent packages already present on the system.
If your system has <kernel>-headers and <kernel>-nvidia or <kernel>-nvidia-570xx, the same packages for the new kernel will be installed as well.
To sync a matching set of packages for linux618
mhwd-kernel -i linux618
It is possible to remove the currently running kernel by using the optional rmc argument.
mhwd-kernel -i linux618 rmc
Then reboot your system
Thanks all for the replies - so if I want to test a newer kernel I shall not use pacmam / pamac but rely on mhwd-kernel ?
The straight up answer - would be no - but as you are using Manjaro you benefit from mhwd (Manjaro Hardware Detection) - a tool developed by Manjaro Team, specifically to handle these cases.
So mhwd-kernel is the catch-all (for installed modules).
There is caveats though - especially with rc-kernels e.g. linux619 where extra modules may not exist.
In such case it may be better to use dkms and choose dkms modules for virtualbox and the relevant Nvidia driver package.
So, as you may understand, there is several options, which one you choose depend on your own specific use case.
Thanks, and for what kernel shall I use mhwd-kernel? Is there a rule?
There is a rule.
It is:
use it for every single one, every time,
unless you know what you are doing and why
or
if you happen to need to chroot -
mhwd-kernel doesn’t work from within chroot.
But this is an edge case when you need to install a kernel to make your system boot again after an incomplete update - and once it boots again, you can use mhwd-kernel again.
I guess if I do nothing, next time Manjaro updates the kernel, that one will come with all dependencies satisfied, right?
Why don’t you try that right now?
Install a second kernel, so you have one that works when the other one will not for some reason.
(which is not expected, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when it is so easy)
If you do nothing, you will learn nothing. 
If it is the same kernel version — i.e. a 6.12-generation or a 6.18-generation — then the answer is “yes”. And both of those are long-term-support kernels — as are 5.10, 5.15, 6.1 and 6.6 — so you’re good to go for quite a while still. 
Apologies for being dumb, but I have 6.12 now - is 6.18 also a LTS kernel? If so why wouldn’t Manjaro use that one by default? Just a matter of time?
Shall I install it myself or wait?
Btw, the utility seems to work as intended:
sudo mhwd-kernel -i linux618
[sudo] password for ema:
:: Synchronising package databases...
core is up to date
extra is up to date
multilib is up to date
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...
Packages (3) linux618-6.18.2-1 linux618-nvidia-open-580.119.02-3 linux618-virtualbox-host-modules-7.2.4-4
Total Download Size: 157.18 MiB
Total Installed Size: 163.34 MiB
:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n]
These are the 2 additional packages I was expecting to see.
Which additional packages were they?
I guess the nvidia open and vbox modules?
Drag the scrollbar of the pre-formatted text enclosure you posted to the right, and you will see:
Something like that?
Of course.
Yes, 6.18 has recently officially been declared the next LTS kernel.
Well, I’m not sure about the Minimal Editions — I’d have to check — but for the Full Editions, the Manjaro ISOs for the Stable branch normally always come with the latest LTS kernel, so as to offer the best support to people with newer hardware that may not have been supported yet in the previous (but still supported) LTS kernels.
That is entirely up to you. Myself, I am still on 6.12, and it works perfectly fine for me. But then again, this hardware is almost 7 years old now, so I have no need for The Latest & Greatest™ features.
Nevertheless, 6.18 does offer a number of improvements that some of our members — especially the gamers — will appreciate. On the other hand, it’s still a fairly new kernel, while 6.12 is already very mature right now with regard to bug fixes and security patches.
Told you so, didn’t I?
Thanks very much, I’ll maybe switch over to 6.18 - although for the 5090 I’m using the Nvidia drivers so don’t need the latest kernel etc etc - but once is marked LTS on Manjaro’s list I will give it a go
Well, you’ve already installed it, so it will be used by default the next time you boot up, unless you manually choose the 6.12 kernel in the “Advanced options for Manjaro Linux” submenu in grub.
grub used to come set up by default to remember the last-booted kernel, but this no longer works now that we’ve switched to btrfs — the reason being that grub cannot write to btrfs, and so it cannot store your boot choice.
It already is an official LTS kernel, but it’s not marked as such yet in the manjaro-settings-manager because this would require an update to manjaro-settings-manager itself.