Bradford Morgan White: Kernel 6.5

20231025

It will come as little surprise to long time readers of either of my sites that I use Slackware. Currently, I am running Slackware64 15, and I have been on and off since its release. I recently decided to try the PF kernel with version 6.5 and it seems to being doing well. I also took the time to update the firmware set that I am using.

First, change directory to /usr/src:

cd /usr/src

Next, grab your sources:

wget https://codeberg.org/pf-kernel/linux/archive/v6.5-pf5.tar.gz
git clone https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware
wget https://absurd.wtf/files/kernel-6.5pf

Unpack the kernel source:

rm -f linux
tar xf v6.5-pf5.tar.gz
mv linux linux-6.5pf
ln -s /usr/src/linux-6.5pf /usr/src/linux

Change out the firmware directory:

mv /lib/firmware /lib/firmware-5.15
mv linux-firmware /lib/firmware

Now, it's time to start the kernel build:

cd /usr/src/linux
make mrproper
cp ../kernel-6.5pf .config
make oldconfig
make -j$(nproc)
make -j$(nproc) modules_install
make headers_install

I don't use a boot manager, so I skip the lilo/elilo stuff.

cp -v arch/x86_64/boot/bzImage /boot/efi/EFI/bootx64.efi
efibootmgr -b 0000 -B
efibootmgr -c -d /dev/nvme0n1 -p 1 -l '\EFI\bootx64.efi' -L "Slackware" -u "root=/dev/nvme0n1p2 pcie_aspm=off"

There's not been too much of a major performance difference between the current kernel and the previous, but I've seen less visual artifacting in X11. I've also experienced a slight improvement in networking performance (AX210 rev1a). On an older Lenovo all in one with a core i3, this kernel has made a large difference in the overall responsiveness of the machine. Your mileage may vary.

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