I installed the 4.4.0 kernel on my Mint 17.3, which was running 3.1.9. One thing I notice is that neither VMWare Workstation nor Oracle's Virtualbox will install. I didn't record the exact error message, but it's along the lines of a generic "this program not designed for this platform". No damage, they just refuse to be installed. At least it's easy to select a kernel at boot or change the default. If anyone can get these programs to install, I'd love to hear how it was accomplished.
dkms is the issue, it becomes an issue when a new kernel is released without full support. Linux can become a dependency hell if you aren't careful with the kernels you use.
I also had an error from 17.3 while trying to install 4.4.1. I also have AMD video so that may also be the issue. I am still using 3.19 with proprietary AMD drivers from the driver manager. Linux doesn't seem to like my video card with their open source drivers.
If you want to use a new kernel, then you have to uninstall the proprietary video drivers, install the new kernel and re-install the proprietary video drivers, but that doesn't always do the trick.
Even with the proprietary drivers, it doesn't seem to have the same performance as Windows (at least on my PC).
Nvidia for example isn't spending much manpower into the Linux drivers, maybe in some years if Steam on Linux will play a bigger role.
Used the steps provided in the OP. I'm new at this, I guess I should have asked how many methods there were and how they differed.
There are 3 ways: via Mint Updater, via Synaptic and via console. The recommended method is via Mint Updater.
Code: sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.4.1*.deb linux-image-4.4.1*.deb (Reading database ... 211723 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack linux-headers-4.4.1-040401_4.4.1-040401.201601311534_all.deb ... Unpacking linux-headers-4.4.1-040401 (4.4.1-040401.201601311534) over (4.4.1-040401.201601311534) ... Preparing to unpack linux-headers-4.4.1-040401-generic_4.4.1-040401.201601311534_amd64.deb ... Unpacking linux-headers-4.4.1-040401-generic (4.4.1-040401.201601311534) over (4.4.1-040401.201601311534) ... Preparing to unpack linux-image-4.4.1-040401-generic_4.4.1-040401.201601311534_amd64.deb ... Done. Unpacking linux-image-4.4.1-040401-generic (4.4.1-040401.201601311534) over (4.4.1-040401.201601311534) ... Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d . run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 4.4.1-040401-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.1-040401-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 4.4.1-040401-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.1-040401-generic Setting up linux-headers-4.4.1-040401 (4.4.1-040401.201601311534) ... Setting up linux-headers-4.4.1-040401-generic (4.4.1-040401.201601311534) ... Examining /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d. run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms 4.4.1-040401-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.1-040401-generic Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 4.4.1-040401-generic (x86_64) Consult /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.59/build/make.log for more information. Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 4.4.1-040401-generic (x86_64) Consult /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox-guest/5.0.4/build/make.log for more information. Setting up linux-image-4.4.1-040401-generic (4.4.1-040401.201601311534) ... Running depmod. update-initramfs: deferring update (hook will be called later) Not updating initrd symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled (4.4.1-040401.201601311534 was configured last, according to dpkg) Not updating image symbolic links since we are being updated/reinstalled (4.4.1-040401.201601311534 was configured last, according to dpkg) Examining /etc/kernel/postinst.d. run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/apt-auto-removal 4.4.1-040401-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.1-040401-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms 4.4.1-040401-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.1-040401-generic Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 4.4.1-040401-generic (x86_64) Consult /var/lib/dkms/ndiswrapper/1.59/build/make.log for more information. Error! Bad return status for module build on kernel: 4.4.1-040401-generic (x86_64) Consult /var/lib/dkms/virtualbox-guest/5.0.4/build/make.log for more information. run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools 4.4.1-040401-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.1-040401-generic update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.4.1-040401-generic W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/radeon/TAHITI_vce.bin for module radeon run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/pm-utils 4.4.1-040401-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.1-040401-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub 4.4.1-040401-generic /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.1-040401-generic Generating grub configuration file ... Warning: Setting GRUB_TIMEOUT to a non-zero value when GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT is set is no longer supported. Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.4.1-040401-generic Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.4.1-040401-generic Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.19.0-32-generic Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.19.0-32-generic No volume groups found Adding boot menu entry for EFI firmware configuration done
You can find generated kernel.log, for more help at : Code: /var/log/genkernel.log or /var/log/kernel.log windsman.
After every kernel upgrade you first need to reinstall your proprietary drivers. That means virtualbox, vmware, and video cards. If they were open source drivers they would be in the kernel already and you wouldn't have to install them in the first place. Secondly, when you upgrade to kernel 4.4/5, you need to upgrade to gcc 5.3. 5.2 is bad. Because I say so. And then you have to relink your gcc in /usr/bin(ln -s gcc5 gcc), like so. 6 00:33 /usr/bin/gcc-ar -> gcc-ar-5 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 26968 Nov 30 22:25 /usr/bin/gcc-ar-4.8 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 26976 Dec 5 18:01 /usr/bin/gcc-ar-5 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 Feb 6 00:33 /usr/bin/gcc-nm- -> gcc-nm-5 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 26968 Nov 30 22:25 /usr/bin/gcc-nm-4.8 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 26976 Dec 5 18:01 /usr/bin/gcc-nm-5 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 12 Feb 6 00:34 /usr/bin/gcc-ranlib -> gcc-ranlib-5 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 26968 Nov 30 22:25 /usr/bin/gcc-ranlib-4.8 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 26976 Dec 5 18:01 /usr/bin/gcc-ranlib-5 Then the video card drivers and whatever else you are compiling against the kernel will work. Where do you get the latest gcc- from add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test. That's all these is to it. I'm running kernel 4.5.0-040500rc4-generic with gcc (Ubuntu 5.3.0-3ubuntu1~14.04) 5.3.0 20151204. And virtualbox. And Nvidia's latest driver(via the phoronix repository graphics-drivers on launchpad). Good luck.