Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with New Hardware Support (Mainline PPA)

Linux Kernel 6.16 is officially released, bringing new hardware support, performance improvements, and security updates. In this guide, we explore the top Linux Kernel 6.16 new features and show you how to install it on Ubuntu using the mainline kernel PPA.

Linux Kernel 6.16 was released last night! Linus Torvalds announced:

It’s Sunday afternoon, and the release cycle has come to an end. Last week was nice and calm, and there were no big show-stopper surprises to keep us from the regular schedule, so I’ve tagged and pushed out 6.16 as planned.

What’s New in Kernel 6.16

The new kernel introduced many new & updated hardware support, performance improvements, and various other features.

First of all, it added CONFIG_X86_NATIVE_CPU at build time, allowing to compile the kernel optimized for the current CPU (Intel/AMD), though, such kernel might not work optimally on different x86 machine.

On the Intel side, it added initial support for TDX in KVM to creates hardware-isolated virtual machines (VMs), introduced new OverClock Watchdog driver, and, added Energy Aware Scheduling (EAS) support in Intel P-State driver.

There are as well new driver for QAT GEN6 devices support, audio support for Intel Wildcat Lake, as well as:

• Intel PTC (Platform Temperature Control) thermal support.
• Update turbostat utility with Intel Diamond Rapids & Bartlett Lake processors support.
• Auto Count Reload (ACR) support.
• Intel Advanced Performance Extensions (APX) support.
• Fan speed report with Intel Xe driver.
• Refactor VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) code.
• Link-Off Between Frames (LOBF) support for laptops with eDP for additional power-saving.

For AMD, the kernel introduced virtual TPM driver, new SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) driver, experimental support for AMDGPU user mode queues, and added AMD ALLOWED_SEV_FEATURES support for KVM.

It now reports why your AMD Zen system being reset / rebooted. And, AMDKFD kernel compute driver can now be enabled on RISC-V systems.

Kernel 6.16 improved Snapdragon X laptops support. It added ASUS Zenbook A14 and HP EliteBook Ultra G1q support, external DisPlayPort support in ThinkPad T14s and XPS 13 9345.

While ASUS Vivobook S15 gained support for USB-A ports, micro-SD card reader, Bluetooth connectivity.

As well, there are multi-core scheduler support LoongArch CPU architecture, ARM Scalable Matrix Extension (SME) support, and dynamic preemption support for IBM POWER CPU.

Other hardware support & improvements include:

• NVIDIA Tegra264 support.
• EcoNet MIPS support.
• Realtek RTL8127A 10GbE Ethernet controller support.
• NVIDIA Blackwell and Hopper GPUs support via Nouveau driver.
• Hardware monitoring and fan control on compatible Alienware laptops.
• Support OneXFly variants with OneXPlayer driver.
• Apple Magic Mouse 2 USB-C support.
• Hardware monitoring support for MAXIMUS VI HERO and ROG Z690 Formula motherboards.
• Apple M2 Pro / Max / Ultra PCIe Support.
• ByoWave Proteus controller support.
• CPU temperature monitoring support for AMD Zen 5 desktop CPUs.
• And more.

How to Install Linux Kernel 6.16 in Ubuntu

For Ubuntu 24.04 and higher, the mainline PPA has built the kernel packages for amd64, arm64/armhf, ppc64el, and s390x platforms.

NOTE: the Mainline Kernel packages are for testing purpose! They are NOT supported by Ubuntu, and NOT signed. Meaning you need to turn off secure boot for using the kernel. And, it may be NOT compatible with NVIDIA proprietary driver.

To download the kernel packages, go to the link below:

Select download all the packages for your CPU platform, then open terminal and use apt install to install all the .deb packages.

For Ubuntu Desktop or Server on AMD/Intel platform, you may open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the 4 commands below one by one to download & install the kernel packages:

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/mainline/v6.16/amd64/linux-headers-6.16.0-061600-generic_6.16.0-061600.202507272138_amd64.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/mainline/v6.16/amd64/linux-headers-6.16.0-061600_6.16.0-061600.202507272138_all.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/mainline/v6.16/amd64/linux-image-unsigned-6.16.0-061600-generic_6.16.0-061600.202507272138_amd64.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/mainline/v6.16/amd64/linux-modules-6.16.0-061600-generic_6.16.0-061600.202507272138_amd64.deb

Then, install them via command:

sudo apt install ./linux*6.16.0*.deb

After installed the kernel, restart computer and run uname -a to verify:

Uninstall Kernel 6.16

To uninstall the kernel, first re-boot with an old Kernel from Grub boot-loader (usually under Advanced options).

Then, run the command below to uninstall:

sudo apt remove linux-image-unsigned-6.16* linux-headers-6.16* linux-modules-6.16*