From: ronb02NOSPAM@gmail.com   
      
   On 2026-02-10, rbowman  wrote:   
   > On Tue, 10 Feb 2026 03:09:51 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:   
   >   
   >> Yep, I've noticed several people on Reddit have had trouble with Linux   
   >> Mint when upgrading to the 6.17 kernel. The Linux Mint developers   
   >> flopped on this one. Fortunately it's easy to drop back to 6.14 or 6.8   
   >> (which is what I'm still using on the 22.x computers). The 21.x computer   
   >> (my main one) is still at the 5.15 kernel. Works well. This is why I'm   
   >> not much for "cutting edge."   
   >   
   > For me it was the Broadcom driver and dkms.   
   >   
   > https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/restricted/b/broadcom-sta/broadcom-   
   > sta-dkms_6.30.223.271-23ubuntu1.2_all.deb   
   >   
   > works. After installing it dkms rebuilds the broadcom_sta module for the   
   > 6.17 kernel and on reboot the new kernel is in place. Mint and other   
   > Ubuntu distros don't do well with Broadcom. I don't have ethernet so for   
   > the initial install I use a Panda USB wifi dongle. I think it's mediatek   
   > but it is recognized. Once up the Driver Manager will load a Broadcom   
   > driver. In this case a working driver (with 6.14) was installed so it   
   > didn't look for a new one.   
      
   Yeah, Broadcom is a pain in the neck in Linux. I think they still have to   
   reverse engineer the drivers. I always move to Intel when I can.   
      
   > It seems some Macs use Broadcom too. The r/linux_on_mac subreddit has more   
   > unhappy campers than r/linuxmint.   
      
   Good thing I haven't tried to update my Mac Mini (Linux side).   
      
   > What I wasn't able to do was to get rind of the 6.17 package so it   
   > wouldn't try to rebuild on every update. 'apt remove kernel...' and 'apt   
   > purge kernel...' might work but it's a little ambiguous when it starts   
   > talking about linux-kernel-generic .   
      
   In Linux Mint, you can do this is in Update Manager. When you see the kernel   
   that is going to be updated, you right-click on the square beside it and   
   choose either "Ignore the current update for this package." Or "Ignore all   
   future updates for this package."   
      
   apt-mark is supposed to allow you to hold and showhold, etc., but so far I   
   can't get "sudo apt-mark showhold" to return anything, even though I've   
   specifically held back a kernel to test it in Update Manager. (Probably have   
   to hold the file in apt-mark to see it in apt-mark showhold.)   
      
   What I've held back in Update Manager can be seen by running...   
      
   sudo apt list --upgradable   
      
   > The Ubuntu box has been a 6.17 for a while but it has a MediaTek. The two   
   > boxes at 6.18 have Intel and Qualcomm. Broadcom has always been a pain in   
   > the ass.   
      
   Agree on Broadcom. Whenever I rebuild a laptop that has a Broadcom WiFi   
   card, I look on eBay for a cheap Intel one. I don't even want to mess with   
   Broadcom.   
      
   So these kernel issues are all related to Broadcom WiFi cards? My Firefox   
   locked up twice on me using this computer (21.3, 5.15 kernel) so I dropped   
   back to an earlier 5.15 kernel. It hasn't locked up since, but Firefox was   
   also updated so it could have been a Firefox issue.   
      
   --   
   "Not just insane... Trump insane."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)