compiling a beta kernel in archlinux

You have a new laptop, you install ArchLinux on it and seems like some things are missing. This is currently the case for me:

One of the few things you can try is to install the latest beta kernel. In my case, it’s Linux 4.6. This fixes all of the issued I outlined above.

With that said, you need to err on the side of caution, this can make your computer not boot, so please have a CD/Flash drive to boot from in case something is wrong so you can revert back.

All of this process is actually not so bad, so what do you need first.

  1. Get the package build: git clone --depth 1 git://git.archlinux.org/svntogit/packages.git linux-packages
  2. cd linux-packages/linux/trunk
  3. makepkg -s - This will take some time, so get you coffee or do something to make use of your time.
  4. pacman -U *.pkg.tar

Reboot your system and voila.

There is also linux-mainline aur to automatically do it for you. However, at the time of the writing, it’s already on 4.7rc1 and it’s really bleeding edge and 4.6 seems to be enough for now.