Linux Kernel 4.2 was released yesterday, at noon. Linus Torvalds wrote on lkml.org:
So judging by how little happened this week, it wouldn’t have been a mistake to release 4.2 last week after all, but hey, there’s certainly a few fixes here, and it’s not like delaying 4.2 for a week should have caused any problems either.
So here it is, and the merge window for 4.3 is now open. I already have a few pending early pull requests, but as usual I’ll start processing them tomorrow and give the release some time to actually sit.
The shortlog from rc8 is tiny, and appended. The patch is pretty tiny too…
What’s New in Kernel 4.2:
- rewrites of Intel Assembly x86 code
- support for new ARM boards and SoCs
- F2FS per-file encryption
- The AMDGPU kernel DRM driver
- VCE1 video encode support for the Radeon DRM driver
- Initial support for Intel Broxton Atom SoCs
- Support for ARCv2 and HS38 CPU cores.
- added queue spinlocks support
- many other improvements and updated drivers.
How to Install Kernel 4.2 in Ubuntu:
The binary packages of this kernel release are available for download at link below:
NOTE: The kernel binaries are marked as UNSTABLE (see the link url). You may not do this in a production machine, or you have to know what you’re going to do and know about how to restore if something goes wrong (or see the link at bottom).
First check out your OS type, 32-bit (i386) or 64-bit (amd64), then download and install the packages below in turn:
- linux-headers-4.2.0-xxx_all.deb
- linux-headers-4.2.0-xxx-generic_xxx_i386/amd64.deb
- linux-image-4.2.0-xxx-generic_xxx_i386/amd64.deb
After installing the kernel, you may run sudo update-grub command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to refresh grub boot-loader.
If you need a low latency system (e.g. for recording audio) then download & install below packages instead:
- linux-headers-4.2.0_xxx_all.deb
- linux-headers-4.2.0-xxx-lowlatency_xxx_i386/amd64.deb
- linux-image-4.2.0-xxx-lowlatency_xxx_i386/amd64.deb
For Ubuntu Server without a graphical UI, you may run below commands one by one to grab packages via wget and install them via dpkg:
For 64-bit system run:
cd /tmp/ wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2-unstable/linux-headers-4.2.0-040200_4.2.0-040200.201508301530_all.deb wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2-unstable/linux-headers-4.2.0-040200-generic_4.2.0-040200.201508301530_amd64.deb wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2-unstable/linux-image-4.2.0-040200-generic_4.2.0-040200.201508301530_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.2.0-*.deb linux-image-4.2.0-*.deb
For 32-bit system, run:
cd /tmp/ wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2-unstable/linux-headers-4.2.0-040200_4.2.0-040200.201508301530_all.deb wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2-unstable/linux-headers-4.2.0-040200-generic_4.2.0-040200.201508301530_i386.deb wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.2-unstable/linux-image-4.2.0-040200-generic_4.2.0-040200.201508301530_i386.deb sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.2.0-*.deb linux-image-4.2.0-*.deb
Finally restart your computer to take effect.
To revert back, remove old kernels, see install kernel simply via a script.
Thank you Ji m. My Ubuntu 14.04.3LTS amd64 runs very well. Now I have the new kernel updated. Big help my friend.
Why are you suggesting that users install an unstable version of this Linux Kernel? My understanding is that if it says unstable then this kernel is NOT usable for downloading and installing on a production system. This should have been clearly pointed out in my opinion.
Ivan stop trolling, it’s just a guide for those who want to try the new kernel, he is NOT suggesting anything. Besides you must be blind not to see the commands you type, which clearly mention the word UNSTABLE.
What needs to be pointed out here, or flagged up clearly IMO is that the standard Linux kernel which is released “is NOT the same kernel” that is used or is suitable for Ubuntu Linux. Canonical the creators of Ubuntu have their own kernel team and it is these people that re-compile the standard Linux kernel for the specific requirements of Ubuntu.
YES! you can if you are experienced enough recompile the standard kernel & use it on Ubuntu. But then that would be considered a custom kernel which is different. IMO its much much better to wait for the canonical kernel team to release a stable kernel version which has been recompiled specifically for Ubuntu and comes as .DEB file format which makes installation very straight forwards.
Bill STOP accusing me of trolling. I’m completely against trolling!! I’m NOT trolling anyone here. What I am totally against here is mis-information or highly confusing information presented as fact. Let the author write an article that is clear and accurate and NOT confusing for users who are new to Linux thats my point nothing more. No! malicious intent involved here by me.
That’s my fault @Ivan. I’ve added some words to point it out in the tutorial.
Hello Ji m, My only intention was to ensure that someone with very limited Linux experience didn’t try installing a Kernel version that might have destabilized their system or worse. The other point was that Linux Kernels for Ubuntu need to be compiled first and newbies might not even know this. I didn’t want someone to try installing the raw kernel source files i.e. un-compiled form with disastrous results. New users should be made aware that for Ubuntu you need the .deb file format kernels before you can smoothly install them. Kind Regards Ivan
Thanks for this. Trying it now. This was needed for my Hauppage WinTV 2255 Digital HDTV Tuner card to work. Hopefully it doesn’t smash everything on my machine.
How did you make out with your Hauppauge HVR-2255? I’m doing the same thing now without great results.
I had it working in Mythbuntu but my wireless wasn’t supported so I’ve decided to install 15.10 complete. Wifi working now, upgraded to kernel v4.3 but no dice.
suggestions?
-F
Hi Ji m,
As an experienced Linux user I wanted to try an UNSTABLE kernel version prior to experiencing it on a complete release like Ubuntu 15.10 . I have read a number of your articles and have come to trust your guidance. Thank you for your research, write-ups and continued diligence.
Trying 4.2.x for ~3 weeks prior to deciding if I want 15.10, beginning with this reply ….
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