Collabora put up their patches for Linux Kernel work to help Windows games on Linux

Well, I think you said before that this won't land until kernel 5.11. That seems likely since 5.10 is currently in Release Candidate 4 as of a couple of days ago (https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/ ). I'm not sure what the release schedule is for kernels - they seem to be every two months or so, although there was a 6 month gap between 5.6 and 5.7. But based on the 2 month schedule, we could be looking at 5.11 around February next year, maybe even a bit earlier?

I'm currently running the latest 5.9 from mainline using the low-latency option. It works really well, but I think I might give Liquorix a shot, since it will update automatically, AND includes the fsync patches. Liquorix (https://liquorix.net ) support PPA and AUR updates, which is pretty cool.

If you're on an Arch-based disto, apparently the Zen kernel is also worth a shot (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php?title=Kernels&oldid=407966#Official_packages ).

Anyone know of any other reliable, solid options for kernel upgrades, particularly on an Ubuntu-based distro?

I advocate for some years that a rolling kernel is better model for desktop usage, speacially if you are into gaming. For servers and corporate enviroments i still prefer to be in a LTS release with long support kernels.

Anyone know of any other reliable, solid options for kernel upgrades, particularly on an Ubuntu-based distro?

I use to recomend the custom kernels from TKG, the man and mind behind proton-tkg (that represents the major part of proton-GE). TKG has custom version for all different kinds of CPUs and diferent governors. TKG kernels use to be Arch only but i think it's compatible with ubuntu based distros now.

https://github.com/Frogging-Family/linux-tkg

I advocate for some years that a rolling kernel is better model for desktop usage, speacially if you are into gaming. For servers and corporate enviroments i still prefer to be in a LTS release with long support kernels.

I've been happily using rolling release distros (A and OSTW) for about... 5, 6 years now? I don't think I could go back to standard release distros, I'm too lazy to go through all the hassle every year.

I use to recomend the custom kernels from TKG, the man and mind behind proton-tkg (that represents the major part of proton-GE). TKG has custom version for all different kinds of CPUs and diferent governors. TKG kernels use to be Arch only but i think it's compatible with ubuntu based distros now.

https://github.com/Frogging-Family/linux-tkg

Looks like it's compatible, but it also looks like you're basically compiling a new kernel whenever a new release comes out. Since I know next-to-nothing about kernels, I think I'll stick to pre-packaged .deb files from either mainline or Liquonix, unless there are other options out there.

Also, doesn't compiling a kernel take hours?? Maybe I'm missing something that install script just updates your apt cache, but that's not how it's presented, and they go on to talk about having to manage "custom compiled kernels". I'd prefer something that merges into the Mint kernel management tool, like mainline does.

I'm currently running the latest 5.9 from mainline using the low-latency option. It works really well, but I think I might give Liquorix a shot, since it will update automatically, AND includes the fsync patches. Liquorix (https://liquorix.net ) support PPA and AUR updates, which is pretty cool.

Bear in mind that the last benchmarks I saw showed the liquorix kernel significantly underperforming compared to the standard generic and lowlatency Ubuntu kernels. You might find that it helps the games that need the newer scheduler patches, but makes everything else worse.

Oh, also

I'm not sure what the release schedule is for kernels - they seem to be every two months or so, although there was a 6 month gap between 5.6 and 5.7.

2-3 months between versions. They switched to a more regular cadence after the trials of the 2.x era. Less than that, and it isn't done, and more than that and Linus gets fidgety.

5.6 was released on 29 March 2020 and 5.7 was released on 31 May 2020, so 63 days between them.


Last edited by CatKiller on 20 November 2020 at 2:38 pm UTC

5.6 was released on 29 March 2020 and 5.7 was released on 31 May 2020, so 63 days between them.

Huh. According to the mainline repo link I posted in my first comment, 5.7 wasn't released until 15th July... but you must be right, because 5.8 then released on the second of August, just two weeks later! Must just be the directories that are incorrectly dated for some reason.

Also, doesn't compiling a kernel take hours?? Maybe I'm missing something that install script just updates your apt cache, but that's not how it's presented, and they go on to talk about having to manage "custom compiled kernels". I'd prefer something that merges into the Mint kernel management tool, like mainline does.

That strongly depends on your CPU. Compiling a mainline kernel usually takes me about up to 10 minutes on my 12-core Ryzen 3900. All in all, its about 15 minutes to get a new kernel up and running. A bit more if you're going to patch it, e.g. with fsync support.

For the curious, these are the steps I do:

 
cd <unpacked kernel directory>

sudo make mrproper
cp /boot/config-$(uname -r) .config
# if you want to change kernel options, otherwise you can skip menuconfig
make menuconfig
make -j 25
sudo make INSTALL_MOD_STRIP=1 modules_install

cd /lib/modules/<new_kernel>
sudo find . -name *.ko -exec strip --strip-unneeded {} +

cd <unpacked kernel directory>
sudo make install
sudo update-initramfs -c -k <kernelversion>
sudo update-grub

I think make install already does trigger update-initramfs and update-grub, but I do it anyway, just to be sure. :)
Also, this installs the kernel straight without using a package manager. I think you can also build the kernel as .deb packages and then add/remove it using the package manager, but I just delete the old kernels from time to time by hand.


Last edited by KROM on 20 November 2020 at 6:25 pm UTC

I have a cunning strategy for dealing with this situation:
Wait.

[quote=scaine]

Looks like it's compatible, but it also looks like you're basically compiling a new kernel whenever a new release comes out. Since I know next-to-nothing about kernels, I think I'll stick to pre-packaged .deb files from either mainline or Liquonix, unless there are other options out there.

Also, doesn't compiling a kernel take hours?? Maybe I'm missing something that install script just updates your apt cache, but that's not how it's presented, and they go on to talk about having to manage "custom compiled kernels". I'd prefer something that merges into the Mint kernel management tool, like mainline does.

I've never used it on Ubuntu or mint. I agree that have to manualy compile a kernel every week is a no go for me. On Manjaro i just use the Chaotic-AUR, they basically compile the source code of every app hourly and just send me the updated package on pamac.

I have a cunning strategy for dealing with this situation:
Wait.

That's so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.

I advocate for some years that a rolling kernel is better model for desktop usage, speacially if you are into gaming.

Unless you are old and have better things to do with your time than fight with a broken desktop. I applaud all you folks who push the envelope, but I have hundreds of unplayed games that really don't require an up-to-date kernel.

I am with purple library guy! Waiting is just fine for most of us ;-)


Last edited by no_information_here on 20 November 2020 at 7:44 pm UTC

[quote=benjamimgois]

Looks like it's compatible, but it also looks like you're basically compiling a new kernel whenever a new release comes out. Since I know next-to-nothing about kernels, I think I'll stick to pre-packaged .deb files from either mainline or Liquonix, unless there are other options out there.

Also, doesn't compiling a kernel take hours?? Maybe I'm missing something that install script just updates your apt cache, but that's not how it's presented, and they go on to talk about having to manage "custom compiled kernels". I'd prefer something that merges into the Mint kernel management tool, like mainline does.

I've never used it on Ubuntu or mint. I agree that have to manualy compile a kernel every week is a no go for me. On Manjaro i just use the Chaotic-AUR, they basically compile the source code of every app hourly and just send me the updated package on pamac.

I didn't know that! You have to have a real trust about it. I don't mind compile my own AUR packages, but it can be useful for some.

I'm currently running the latest 5.9 from mainline using the low-latency option. It works really well, but I think I might give Liquorix a shot, since it will update automatically, AND includes the fsync patches. Liquorix (https://liquorix.net ) support PPA and AUR updates, which is pretty cool.

If you're on an Arch-based disto, apparently the Zen kernel is also worth a shot (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php?title=Kernels&oldid=407966#Official_packages ).

Anyone know of any other reliable, solid options for kernel upgrades, particularly on an Ubuntu-based distro?

I don't know. I tried both of them but in my case they both introduced some stuttering and lagging in both the Desktop Environment and the games. Even with the most recent 5.9.0-9.1 release.

In my experience (and I have tried several kernel releases and flavours. A few threads in this forum can prove it) nothing has been better than recompiling the vanilla Linux kernel from a stable or LTS branch. Having the latest brand new bleeding-edge kernel release might be good for testing purposes, but for demanding both performance and reliability you have to stick with the stable releases.


Last edited by LordDaveTheKind on 22 November 2020 at 12:47 pm UTC

Giving 5.9.0-9.1-liquorix-amd64 a go now, hopefully it isn't a bad performer.

Giving 5.9.0-9.1-liquorix-amd64 a go now, hopefully it isn't a bad performer.

I also gave it a go out of curiosity. Installed from their PPA, using the metapackages they recommended. The kernel crapped out right at the beginning of the boot sequence. I can't be arsed to dig further so I'll just stick to Mainline.

I also gave it a go out of curiosity

Yeah it worked for me however I moved to installing Xanmod1 which people are saying is better. However the RT or EDGE versions didn't boot correctly for me, but the normal one did and is working fine so far.
I've got them all as boot options in the menu now for testing.

https://xanmod.org/


Last edited by TheRiddick on 23 November 2020 at 12:19 am UTC