Different kernels in Arch

Thu, 16 Mar 2023

Why

Linux zen kernel provides some patches the best linux system possible for everyday systems.

Getting the required modules

We will need to install the kernel itself.

sudo pacman -S linux-zen linux-zen-headers

If you are using a nvidia graphics card, replace your nvidia (drivers) package with nvidia-dkms package.

sudo pacman -S dkms nvidia-dkms

Modifying GRUB

Now we are gonna change the grub config to make it easier to use with multiple kernels. Lets open the grub config file using sudo vim /etc/default/grub. Now modify the following properties (GRUB_DEFAULT=saved needs to added, isn’t already present)

GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_SAVEDDEFAULT=true
GRUB_DISABLE_SUBMENU=y

Then to apply the changes regenerate your grub config using:

sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

The location of your grub config might vary!

Now you should be able to restart your computer and boot into your machine with the linux-zen kernel! Souce engine based games seem to run much better now and the zen-kernel is supposed to better for day to day use.

Issues