Yeah, these are a noob questions about LTS

[TheSupremeVizier]

I downloaded kubuntu-24.04.2-desktop-LTS-amd64.iso on May 30 and installed it. 1. Is this genuinely LTS? Or does the 2-suffix on 24.04.2 render it not LTS? I ask because I'm seeing all kinds of problems from plasma crashing to glacially slow shutdown. This installation has eventially resulted in two kernel images after performing daily upgrades: 6.11.0-29-generic and 6.14.0-24-generic. The former works. The latter is giving me fits.

2. If this is not LTS, then how do I get back to LTS support in a manner that allows me to keep all my currently downloaded packages?
3. Do I want to go to 24.04 LTS if these plasma crash and slow shutdown issues are going to still be present? That is, are these problems resolved or non-present in 24.02 LTS?

Thank you for your patience.

[Snowhog]

Yes, 24.04.2 is still LTS.

Kubuntu 24.04.2, a point release of Kubuntu 24.04 LTS, primarily features an updated installation image that includes all the security patches, bug fixes, and software updates released since the initial 24.04 release.

[TheSupremeVizier]

Snowhog, thank you for responding. I'm having significant issues with the 6.14.0-24-generic kernel as explained in my post https://www.kubuntuforums.net/forum/...-the-past-week . Where do you believe I should take this issue? If I can't fix this, I'll need to find another distribution that works for me. :-(

[TheSupremeVizier]

I was hoping for LTS support to correct this probem, but I know bug fixes take time.

[Snowhog]

Did you say that things were fine on the prior kernel? If you did, just boot into it.

[TheSupremeVizier]

Yes, I did say that things were fine on the older kernel. I have also been told that the older kernel...6.11.0-29-generic...is unsupported by LTS.

Just an FYI, but as 6.11 kernel (from 24.10) is unsupported I'd not be using it, which is why it was replaced with the HWE kernel now 6.14 (backported from 25.04),

[Snowhog]

If it was provided by 24.04 then it’s supported. You do not have to use the provided, newer kernel, especially if is causing your system issues.

[TheSupremeVizier]

If that is the case, then I have been misinformed and all I need to do is somehow modify grub so it defaults to the earlier 6.11.0-29-generic instead of the 6.14.0-24 generic. Is there a fairly automated method I can use for that manipulation? Also, is there a method when using the "Updates - Discover" GUI for frequent updates to inspect and select future kernels? Thank you VERY much in advance!

[claydoh]

Yes, the kernels released to LTS are all supported, even the original 6.8, as well as the previous 6.11 and current 6.14

Troubleshooting things like shutdown issues will take time and investigation, as well as bug reports on Launchpad, as this probably is not common and is likely tied to your specific hardware setup.

Is there a fairly automated method I can use for that manipulation?

grub-customizer is a popular tool for the purpose.

is there a method when using the "Updates - Discover" GUI for frequent updates to inspect and select future kernels?

There won't be any truly new kernels, only updates to the existing ones at this stage. So you'd see updates to the 6.11.0 line as well as 6.14.0 one -- mostly security patches, but also bug fixes, too. "Support" here generally means security support, no so much bug fixes, or from things that they have zero control over -- such as Nvidia drivers.

But also take into account that you are using a GPU that is mere months old on a platform that is not overly current, even if the kernel is relatively fresh.

Which Nvidia drivers have you installed? Any settings tweaks there? You will need to do some amount of digging to see what others have done for this GPU on similar distros, and possibly switching driver versions, plus there is a new Open driver choice as well (not Nouveau). Unfortunately, NVIDIA still seems to need some amount of tweaking and testing these days, though it seems to have been improving quite a lot.

If I can't fix this, I'll need to find another distribution that works for me. :-(

Don't be afraid of trying other things. A more current distro or distro release probably will do better on this hardware, but it still may need some tweaking even then.

[Virginio Miranda]

I downloaded kubuntu-24.04.2-desktop-LTS-amd64.iso on May 30 and installed it. 1. Is this genuinely LTS? Or does the 2-suffix on 24.04.2 render it not LTS? I ask because I'm seeing all kinds of problems from plasma crashing to glacially slow shutdown. This installation has eventially resulted in two kernel images after performing daily upgrades: 6.11.0-29-generic and 6.14.0-24-generic. The former works. The latter is giving me fits.

2. If this is not LTS, then how do I get back to LTS support in a manner that allows me to keep all my currently downloaded packages?
3. Do I want to go to 24.04 LTS if these plasma crash and slow shutdown issues are going to still be present? That is, are these problems resolved or non-present in 24.02 LTS?

Thank you for your patience.

The LTS ( Long Term Support ) has 05 years of updates. In the same way , LTS version has two versions of Kernels. GA Kernel ( General Avaiability ) and HWE Kernel ( Hardware Enablement ). The first has 05 years of security updates and the last one only Six month, so, after that it will be update automatically.All of them after release.

LTS 24.04 install GA kernel and 24.04.2 install HWE kernel. It is possible to install HWE Kernel on 24.04 and GA on 24.04.2

GA Kernel is most stable compared to HWE Kernel, and HWE Kernel is more compatible with new hardware.

I just installed 24.04 ( The initial release ) version, so, i am on 6.8 Kernel, and ubuntu continue to update it. The last version is 6.8.0-64-generic. I just updated for this version from 6.8.0.63 and it gave me a problem. So, i had to regret to 6.8.0.63. It happens. It is normal.

In my case, i choose to delete 6.8.0-64 and tell to system that i do no want to receive 6.8.0-4 update again.

In your case you said the old kernel was working, so you can follow the suggestion on link below ( # 29 ) :

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1338...-newest-kernel

or follow the claydoh' sugesttion about grub-customizer.

[TheSupremeVizier]

Snowhog, claydoh and Virginio Miranda, thank you all very much.

I've been a Linux user since around 1994 and before that I did two decades of work inside multiple flavors of *nix, so I'm "kinda old school". ;-) I'm not an expert in Operating Systems and I'm not a Computer Science major, but I know just enough about those subjects to be dangerous. ;-) I'm a retired PhD EE (that also took a ton of Computer Engineering courses) that does a lot of research-level work and consulting on the side. My specialties include Computer Vision, Robotics, Statistical Pattern Recognition, Sensor Fusion, AI, Neural Networks, Signal/Image Processing, Constrained Nonlinear Optimization and more. I've been running Kubuntu for around five years without problems except for this very recent wrinkle and I really like it. You put a big smile back on my face by helping.

In order to avoid the problematic kernel I have modified /etc/default/grub by changing GRUB_DEFAULT=0 to GRUB_DEFAULT=saved and have added GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true, and then executed update-grub. I then rebooted and selected the desired older and nonproblematic kernel. I then shutdown and rebooted automatically into the desired older and nonproblematic desired kernel. As such, I am now steering clear of the problem I have been experiencing with the newer kernel.

Let me know if you need to know more about my hardware, but I think I already described it accurately. Maybe I could help out a bit by testing some stuff for you, but I'd need to come up to speed with how to do that work, and I'm sure I'm far down on the learning curve. I understand about the newness of my GPU. I have no idea what is causing plasma to die on the newer kernel, but if that's due to the GPU, then maybe I could help. If plasma dies on the older kernel, how would you like me to debug it for you? I can't find Launchpad on my system but "locate launchpad" returns a lot, some of which is apparently Python code. How do I start it? Is Launchpad supposed to auto-start after some event, and if so, then when?

The driver for my Nvidia GPU currently in use via redundantly redundant methods:

$ lsmod | grep nvidia
nvidia_uvm 2134016 0
nvidia_drm 135168 27
nvidia_modeset 1724416 92 nvidia_drm
nvidia 11649024 1029 nvidia_uvm,nvidia_modeset
drm_ttm_helper 16384 2 amdgpu,nvidia_drm
video 77824 2 amdgpu,nvidia_modeset

$ modinfo nvidia | grep ^version
version: 570.169

$ modinfo nvidia | grep filename
filename: /lib/modules/6.11.0-29-generic/kernel/nvidia-570-open/nvidia.ko

$ nvidia-smi --query-gpu=driver_version --format=csv,noheader
570.169

$ lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 vga
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:2f04] (rev a1)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Device [1462:5323]
Kernel driver in use: nvidia
--
13:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Device [1002:13c0] (rev c2)
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Device [1462:7e18]
Kernel driver in use: amdgpu

There might be another Nvidia driver installed for the newer kernel. Do you want me to look for it? There is a similar "nvidia-570-open" entry inside /lib/modules/6.14.0-24-generic/kernel/, but I'd likely need to run the newer kernel to find out if the full version is above 570.169.

Let me know if there's something I can do to help _you_. And thanks very greatly again!

[claydoh]

There is a Driver Manager that will show you what is available for your card. It is in System Settings.
You may want the latest 575 driver, which I think should be available in 24.04 now. As to the Open versus the non-open drivers, I can't say. Some seem to use either one, so you may need to try each one, and poke around the Nvidia Settings app. You may want to try the 6.14 kernel when trying out a newer video driver as well.

[TheSupremeVizier]

Thank you, claydoh. I know very little about drivers other than they interface between hardware and the kernel that runs on the CPU.
I like to understand what I'm doing when I make selections, so my search isn't simply "hunt and peck".
This is the first time I've looked at the Driver Manager and I have some questions.
When I open Driver Manager, I am presented with the "Additional Drivers" tab, and inside that tabbed window I see, top-to-bottom:

Using NVIDIA driver (open kernel) metapackage from nvidia-driver-575-open (proprietary, tested)
Using NVIDIA driver metapackage from nvidia-driver-575 (proprietary)
Using NVIDIA driver (open kernel) metapackage from nvidia-driver-570-server-open (proprietary)
Using NVIDIA driver (open kernel) metapackage from nvidia-driver-575-server-open (proprietary)
Using NVIDIA driver metapackage from nvidia-driver-570-server (proprietary)
Using NVIDIA Server Driver metapackage from nvidia-driver-570-server (proprietary)
Using NVIDIA Server Driver metapackage from nvidia-driver-575-server (proprietary)
Using NVIDIA driver (open kernel) metapackage from nvidia-driver-570-open (proprietary)
Using X.Org X server -- Nouveau display driver from xserver-xorg-video-nouveau (open source)

The line item in bold face is the driver that is illustrated as selected and in use.

Questions:
1. I see "(open kernel)" after "Using NVIDIA driver". Is this the open kernel provided for the GPU? That is, is there an open GPU kernel and a proprietary GPU kernel? Who provides the open kernel?
2. What is the difference between a "NVIDIA driver" and a "NVIDIA Server Driver"? What is a "Server Driver"?
3. What is meant here by the term "metapackage" and why doesn't it appear with the "X.Org X server" item?
4. What is the difference between "nvidia-driver-NNN-open (proprietary)", "nvidia-driver-NNN (proprietary)", "nvidia-driver-NNN-server-open (proprietary)" and "nvidia-driver-NNN-server (proprietary)"?

What exactly is meant by the "tested" in the "(proprietary, tested)" label? Is this the only driver that has been tested by Kubuntu? Or the only driver tested with Kubuntu/Ubuntu/Debian by the provider, NVIDIA?

[skyfishgoo]

which one does

 ubuntu-drivers devices
​

recommend?

[TheSupremeVizier]

Hi, skyfishgoo.
ubuntu-drivers devices outputs all of the drivers listed above but recommends only one as follows:

driver : nvidia-driver-575-open - distro non-free recommended

I'm trying to learn how this stuff works. What is the basis for this recommendation?
Is this recommendation made because it is the only driver that was "tested" as implied under the Driver Manager "Additional Drivers" tab?
Have the other drivers been tested? If so, is there a performance rating? Is the testing methodology provided somewhere?
I will switch over to this driver and see what happens. Hopefully I don't lose my display. ;-)