Should i upgrade to latest kernel?

As far as I know Manjaro replaces the removed kernel with meta package.

Only if you install linux-latest, which pacman does suggest to replace the current kernel with when you run an update with an outdated kernel. But doesn’t force the user to install that meta package. I don’t have linux-latest installed on my computers.

OP initially wanted to keep using Kernel 5.9 even if it’s EOL and no longer in our repo, which is why they asked about if it’s bad to keep using it.

1 Like

I’ll make some research about it, but pretty confident Manjaro replace removed kernel with meta package, the exact one you talk about.

Example: Full System Upgrade Asks me to Switch to Linux-Latest?

I mean, if they did, I wouldn’t have Kernel 5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 5.11 all installed atm. Kernel 5.8, 5.9 should be automatically uninstalled and I would only have 5.10 :slight_smile:

linux-latest meta package currently installs Kernel 5.10. All other kernels are not part of that meta package, and the user do not need to install that meta package if they do not want to (like me). linux-latest only affects 1 kernel, and the Manjaro team decides which kernel that meta package currently is.


This is going off topic now though. All OP was asking if it’s okay to keep using kernel 5.9 without needing to change kernels, and if there are any downsides of using that kernel in the ongoing future.

I don’t know about you but this is what happens for normal users. You may have done things, manually refused the replacement, or forced the install of these kernels. I don’t know but for a normal user not messing with anything and just doing things ‘automatically’, it should replace the kernel when it is removed from repos.

Kernel 5.4 stutters randomly for me, i’m using 5.10, my concern is regarding to my games, kernel 5.10 makes an specific older game of mine (Grand Theft Auto San Andreas) stutter and tear, i’m not sure if it’s a kernel or driver issue.

You can open another thread to see if anyone can help with this! :slight_smile:

Have you tried kernel 5.11 yet though?

I have not because it’s experimental, i got out of Windows 10 due to it breaking stuff and i don’t expect to run into any breakage in Manjaro

It doesn’t hurt to try even if it’s experimental. It shouldn’t break your installation to boot into kernel 5.11. Worse comes to worst, it doesn’t boot in, you get a black screen, or you get kernel panic, etc, but it doesn’t ruin your installation, you just select a different kernel you have installed to boot into. It’s one of the great things about Linux!

Currently, in stable repo, it is at 5.11.rc7 (release candidate 7). 5.11.1-1, which is full stable release is currently in testing and unstable. You can wait until it gets pushed to stable, but I personally recommend just to try the current one in Stable to see it it works!

How reliable are these experimental kernels? And regarding about gaming should i go with LTS or latest kernel? Could the latest one fix glitches and compatibility issues?

Depends on the kernel.

Even Kernel 5.10, which is LTS, had a lot of issues upon full release. I use release candidate kernels sometimes because I use newer GPUs and CPUs, and they were more stable on some RC kernels. Depends on hardware and what they introduced into or fixed in the kernels. Not every new kernel is the same.

Depends on hardware. If you have a newer GPU, say Radeon Navi or GTX 2000s and newer, it might be better to stay on newer kernels. AMD GPUs does better with newer kernels (depending on the GPU), because all the open source drivers are built into the kernel itself and newer kernels sometimes have a lot of fixes for those GPUs. Not to mention a lot of fixes for newer CPUs as well such as newer Ryzen CPUs. Some stuff are backported or older kernels, but not everything.

Also, not every newer kernel fixes issues with specific hardware / software. Phoronix does pretty good explanations on what each new kernels introduce / fixes.

i.e. Linux 5.11 per Phoronix. Note: this is from December 2020, there were more fixes and stuff if you read the newer updates.

I had my Radeon RX 5700xt since kernel 5.5, and my gaming experience has gotten better as newer kernels got released. This is anecdotal for my specific hardware.

Could? Of course! But not always. Depends on your specific hardware and software setup, and how it interacts with the newer kernel. I had a ton of compatibility issues with my 5700xt originally, and some of the newer kernels fixed them!

Some kernels have progression with specific hardware, some kernels have regressions for specific hardware.

My GPU is an Intel UHD 620, i know it’s not the ideal but it’s better than my old Xbox 360 slim, my CPU is an I5 8265U 8th gen

How can i determine if there were any regressions regarding my hardware?

Regarding your specific CPU (and iGPU), kernel 5.4 should be fine, though you did say:

You can either go back to that kernel, and ask for help fixing the issue on this forum. Or go to Kernel 5.10 and ask for help fixing that issue. Or just try kernel 5.11, which might fix your issue on it’s own.

If you noticed your FPS is lower in games for example. Or maybe compiling packages is slower on one kernel versus another. Or read articles.

For example, kernel 5.11 had some regressions specifically on AMD computers, which is why I didn’t swap. But now that it’s fixed, I’ll probably swap to it.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=linux-50-59&num=1

I am always on /r/linux_gaming, because plenty of people talk about regression and progression of kernels for some hardware.

I haven’t had any issues with kernel 5.10 so far, it’s just this game that started tearing and stuttering, my other games are running the same or just a bit better than on kernel 5.9

As I said:

Kernel 5.11 would be the first thing I’d do. If that doesn’t work, go to Kernel 5.10, and ask for help.

Seeing that you mentioned a Windows game, I assume you’re using Proton from Steam. You can also try using GloriousEggroll’s Proton to see if it fixes anything. It fixes a lot of game issues I have. Whenever I have a game related issue, I typically swap to GloriousEggroll’s proton first to see if that fixes stuff.

Directions on how to use that version of proton is in the readme, it’s pretty simple.

This issue is happening with all Proton version including Proton GE, perhaps i coud just try kernel 5.11

I just tested kernel 5.11 and the issue still persists, actually it got worse because the tearing is happening in the menus now too, the stuttering on the other hand got a little bit better.

PS: Proton 4.11 fixed it

1 Like

OMG, thanks for the news…
I thought we were up to 510 now… with 511 experimental, Linux 59 is there - but it’s time to move up to 510 or drop back to 54 LTS or419 LTS…

Indeed, opening my ‘default Manjaro kernel’ app from the menu, I see a list…

If you are using an EOL kernel - then yes.

Manjaro has no default kernel - unless you mean what is installed from an ISO - and in that case you could call it default - but as an ISO only reflects any given point in time - the ISO kernel will not be same with the next ISO - not even after the first update.

The latest mainline kernel is 5.11 - which I have been using on my systems for a while now - and the current LTS kernel is still 5.4 now 5.10.

EDIT/UPDATE 2021-02-25T16:07:00Z

I just checked with kernel.org and 5.10.18 is listed as LTS (2021-02-23).

And my server runs on 5.4 (maybe update the kernel - but with a server? such action must not be taken lightly).

4 Likes