should i upgrade kernel?

[wert]

Hi!. I installed xenialpup just for a DVD burning task but I've been playing with it recently and my God! it makes my pc feel like it's updated with drivers with way better graphics, speed etc. and nothing I've ever experienced with lucid, precise, tahrup, slacko etc., the graphics driver is way acccelerated it's frightening for a 2004 desktop pc onboard intel graphics. I can watch videos flawlessly and GUI is like a full-blown ubuntu install unlike the usual puppy faded fonts worn out 90's pc colors. So I was wondering if it's the kernel that's the cause and if so should I upgrade my tahrpup's linux kernel if it's not too hard to do?

[musher0]

Hi wert.

Why not stick with your new xenialPup and save yourself the trouble? Just migrate the
essentials from your tahrpup save file?

BTW, this is the untold way of how we do "upgrades" on Puppy.

Changing kernels Is not necessarily difficult, but it's touch and go. You need to find a
totally compatible kernel, otherwise the upgrade won't work. You can lose a lot of time
trying the choices offered.

Also you need a secondary Puppy to do the "transplant" on the first Pup, you can't do it
from the same Pup. And you need to know how to properly manage back-ups, in case
you need to restore your original.

Finally, for videos and movies, the kernel is not the only factor: the player and its
components play a big role. This is probably what's happening with your xenialPup.

IHTH.

[ozsouth]

I've made several kernels & with a 2004 pc, newer ones may not work. You would need a non-pae one. Not many made recently. Newer kernels are usuallly slower too. Advantages of newer kernels are newer drivers (you won't need them) & mitigation against meltdown, spectre & other nasties. I say if xenialpup is doing well for you, stick with it as is.

[davids45]

G'day,

I've a desktop a couple of years newer than yours with on-board Intel graphics (an HP small-form from 2007).

I mostly have no problems related to Pups with kernels old or new with a range of Pups both 32-bit and 64-bit.

I'm presently posting from a peebee-made LxPupSc-19.06+6-Tk64 in which I've just replaced its as-supplied 5.1.x kernel zdrv and vmlinuz with those from a 64-bit huge-kernel 5.2.10, also from peebee.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 77#1035377

So first, I made a standard Frugal of the latest LxPupSc-19.06+6-Tk64, checked it worked with my applications and peripherals, then copied/duplicated this to a new "TESTING" sub-folder for switching out the zdrv and vmlinuz of the original kernel for the new kernels. Added the new TESTING-PUP boot entry to the menu.lst for the Frugals partition and re-booted. So far, it's looking good. Not sure it's actually much different to peebee's original .

Note, I have plenty of hard-drive space to run many Pups (mostly Frugals, spread across three partitions on two drives) and no serious download speed or download quantity limits so it's easy for me to get a bit 'carried away'.

You may have a restriction in trying many Pups, but if not, I'd suggest you give a kernel swap a try on a "testing" Frugal.

And try a newer-than-Xenial Pup as an addition not replacement to your old desktop Pup.

David S.

[ozsouth]

I made a 4.14.133 NO PAE kernel for older 32 bit systems. Might be worth trying.
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 41#1035441

[nic007]

It must have a lot to do with your machine specs. I have an old compaq laptop from 2006 with a duo core intel processor and integrated graphics card and I'm running Tahr 605. I watch a lot (many, many) high quality videos with vlc on this machine and it performs flawlessly. Older kernels than what Tahr have do tend to struggle a bit but definitely not Tahr in my experience. It may also have to do with older libraries.

[bigpup]

There are many core Linux programs improvements in Xenialpup.
Along with many of the core Puppy specific programs.

Xenialpup is the upgrade to Tahrpup.

Use Xenialpup and be happy!

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
Upgrading, and even switching between kernels, is actually very easy.
However it's generally better to stick with the if it ain't broke don't fix it rule..
It's xenialpup works for you, use it.
That being said if you do decide to swap kernels, you must pick a kernel that has aufs enabled...
This is a rare thing outside of the Puppy world. The only developer outside of Puppy who builds aufs kernels is Arnie Exton, who by the way is a member here....

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
3500 posts!
That makes me number 47...
Lol....

[rufwoof]

it's generally better to stick with the if it ain't broke don't fix it rule..

Of two options, 1. having all files accessible and attempting to ring fence that 24/7 with security or 2. boot from removable media and disconnect that media once booted (run totally in ram) ... and 1. is impossible to secure consistently. Just requires a single lapse for a instant at any time in the past for the whole system to potentially have been compromised.

With 2. the risk that is if you contract a virus during a session then that remains in place for the entire remainder of that session, but is eradicated after rebooting again. If you boot a known clean session and go direct to a trusted web site such as your banks web site, then there's little opportunity for a cracker to crack that session. So even if running older versions of kernel/program/browser that is likely more secure than 1. even though older versions of kernel/system/browser may be more prone to being cracked.

2. Is also much less prone to outages due to upgrades changing things in a manner that messes things up.

When you store data on hdd however, then 2. is more inclined to any session crack potentially opening up that data or having it compromised, such as ransomware. The key there is to ensure you have good disconnected backups of that data and to secure it such as storing sensitive data in encrypted form so that without knowing the password your private data cannot be openly read. Generally that will relatively few files for most people (where the large proportion of data might be stuff you wouldn't be unduly concerned if others did get to see the content).

Online security wise and 1. is potentially the safer, assuming a crack hasn't already been installed. General browsing around with a older browser version is more prone to userid/passwords potentially being stolen. But equally so might sites be cracked and millions of userids/passwords potentially stolen. The trick again is to keep general sites userid/passwords distinctly separate from secure sites userid/passwords, i.e. reboot 2. style before going to your banks web site.

[wert]

After using xenualpup, I find it difficult, straining to use tahr. The graphics is very bad there. It has been my main OS for 3 years after leaving lucid which used to be my favorite and benefited me greatly. I find xenialpup productive and way better than lucid. Many thanks for the improvements. I am happy with the kernel. Though modprobing doesn't for my usb dongle

[ndujoe1]

Unless your hardware has changed dramatically, I would say no.

[wert]

Thanks guys. My general rule when using puppy linux is to apply any solution since linux is flexible. I've never done kernel upgrade in puppy so that's why I asked you. thanks for the recommendations. My dell machine from 2004 is so happy with
Linux Kernel: 4.4.95 (i686)
Kernel Version: #1 SMP Mon Nov 13 17:15:42 GMT 2017
PAE Enabled: No
I can't believe I had never tried it. I'd recommend all linux users with dell machines to switch to this kernel for a way better pc experience. And xenialpup uses savefolder which is easier to do backup so don't use the absolete savefile mechanism with old puppies