which 4.9 kernel is the patched one for MX 16? [solved]

[lonesomepoint]

Can you help me out here on upgrading to the new patched kernel for MX 16, which per Dolphin's announcement is a 4.9? I've done this only once, after the last worldwide kernel problem in fall 2016, and am trying to remember how. My problem is identifying which matching pair of headers/image I need. (I remember that switching to the new kernel wasn't very difficult once I actually had it downloaded.)

So I have enabled the Debian backports repo and opened Synaptic. Looking at the 4.9 images available...I know I obviously don't want the debugging symbols and probably don't need the "for older PCs" image (although I am using an old ThinkPad T61); so it's probably one of the three I underlined in my screenshot. Am I right?

Screenshot.png

In that case, do I want the "for modern PCs" (probably?), the "PREEMPT_RT" patch one, or the "Grsecurity protection" one?

[asqwerth]

Don't open Synaptic. Use MX Packageinstaller as Dolphin_Oracle said in his announcement.

Under the "Kernels" section, look for Debian-Backports 64 bit and select that.

But first, in Synaptic don't forget to disable the backports repo!

[lonesomepoint]

Okay, I thought Synaptic could do anything the MX package installer could, and didn't want to do something new.

[dolphin_oracle]

Okay, I thought Synaptic could do anything the MX package installer could, and didn't want to do something new.

the mx-packageinstaller option has some extra features in this case to force the rebuild of certain drivers, which doesn't always happen with the debian backports kernels.

also in the mx15/16 case, the actual repo isn't enabled by default. the mx-packageinstaller takes care of that detail for you.

[asqwerth]

You know, I suggested that the patched backported kernels be placed in MXPI precisely so people wouldn't go through the whole list of potential packages in Synaptic and wonder which they should install..... (because I puzzled over that same issue myself earlier this week)

The whole point of MXPI's Popular Apps tab is that the Dev Team has already coded in all the required packages needed just by the user ticking one box, and at times it does more as well.

Example: if you had installed Virtualbox from MXPI, it would automatically add you to the vboxusers group as part of the installation process. You wouldn't need to do it yourself. That's one of the value-added features in MXPI.

[lonesomepoint]

Well, I see the point of this, and therefore am now using MX Package Installer. But I'm not sure I want to use the Popular Applications tab, because I'd rather have more information than it offers; it does not say what the Debian-backports kernel's version is, or give a date (which would be helpful here because I could make sure it wasn't released before the kernel flaw's discovery). It's academic in this case, because this thread indicates those are the kernels I need; but what if I didn't have this thread? Anyway, the Full App Catalog tab is at least a compromise between Popular tab and the confusingly large volume of choices available in Synaptic.

[lonesomepoint]

So, I am now running the 4.9 kernel I got from MX Package Manager. Your program seems to have saved me a step: I'm sure last time I downloaded a new kernel (I think spring 2017), I had to do some work (if not much) to switch over to it; but this time, the bootloader automatically edited the menu entry to display the new kernel. There was one more little thing I had to do, the other time.

[dolphin_oracle]

Well, I see the point of this, and therefore am now using MX Package Installer. But I'm not sure I want to use the Popular Applications tab, because I'd rather have more information than it offers; it does not say what the Debian-backports kernel's version is, or give a date (which would be helpful here because I could make sure it wasn't released before the kernel flaw's discovery). It's academic in this case, because this thread indicates those are the kernels I need; but what if I didn't have this thread? Anyway, the Full App Catalog tab is at least a compromise between Popular tab and the confusingly large volume of choices available in Synaptic.

That is a fair point. I know that it isn't optimal to not show the kernel versions for debian-backports, but they happen to be moving targets and its time consuming keeping up with them.

So in PackageInstaller, the debian-backports kernel entries will install whatever the latest kernel is as defined by the linux-image-[arch] metapackage in debian backports.

You could google linux-image-amd64 (for a 64bit kernel) and debian-backports and that will tell you the current version.

in this case: https://packages.debian.org/jessie-back ... mage-amd64

[Stevo]

Synaptic can do almost anything most things that the package installer can, but it can also get you in trouble, since it will show all possible kernel choices, such as the 32-bit kernels on 64-bit, real-time kernels, grsecurity, etc.

There is much discussion going on about if kernels before 4.14-12 offer as much protection, since they are using an older sort of patch. If you want 4.14.12 or greater on MX 16, there's the Liquorix kernel...possibly antiX is also offering one, too.

However, 32-bit kernels currently don't offer any Meltdown mitigation at all. This is unfortunate, but we are hopeful that this will be fixed in the future.

[lonesomepoint]

However, 32-bit kernels currently don't offer any Meltdown mitigation at all.

What? I thought that was explicitly stated in Dolphin's notice. That was the point of my downloading the new kernel.