Linux Kernel 6.12 RC3 Released

Linux Kernel 6.12 RC3 Release: Fix a lot of bugs and improve performance

On October 13, 2024, Linus Torvalds released the third candidate (RC3) for Linux kernel 6.12. While this version doesn't seem special at first glance, it actually fixes multiple bugs, improves performance, and ensures stability in multiple domains of the kernel.

This article will summarize the most important changes, bug fixes and updates in Linux 6.12-rc3.

Catalog

- Change Overview

• Driver update
• File system repair
• Core Network Enhancement
• Tools and Tests
• Other miscellaneous and bug fixes
• Try Linux kernel 6.12 RC3

Change Overview

A more unusual aspect of this version is that the UTF table was regenerated, resulting in a large number of changes, turning the fix that originally had only one row into a 6703 row difference.

In addition to this exception, the release of this version is typical for RC3, including driver updates, file system repairs, core network tuning and tool updates. Below, we will detail these key improvements.

Driver update

Like most kernel updates, driver updates dominate the changes in RC3. These updates focus mainly on GPU and network components, but also include minor updates to areas such as USB, MMC, fbdev (frame buffering device) and thermal drivers.

Key changes include:

• GPU: Partially rolled back the power management changes of AMD GPU and fixed memory leaks in the Radeon driver.
• Network: Several fixes have been made to various network drivers, including improvements to Aquantia, Realtek and Intel devices. In addition, the idpf and ice drivers have also undergone important bug fixes to enhance reliability.
• USB and MMC: Some small but necessary tweaks were made to ensure stable operation of certain USB storage devices, and MMC-related components were updated to improve DMA (Direct Memory Access) support.

File system repair

Several file systems in RC3 have been improved, including XFS, SMB and NTFS3. These fixes solve performance and stability issues and help keep the kernel storage subsystem reliable.

• XFS: Fixed to avoid releasing blocks under dirty page cache and to prevent file system errors related to the background pruning process. A typo in the XFS code was also corrected.
• NTFS3: Improvements include better handling of writing to large sparse files and implementing new support for file compression, which is a significant improvement for NTFS users on Linux systems.
• SMB Client: Some minor fixes are designed to improve the stability of SMB sharing (a common network file system) clients.

Core Network Enhancement

Some updates improve core network features, ensure smoother operation and resolve known errors:

• Network Filter: A fix was applied to prevent panic in network filtering systems (especially the br_netfilter subsystem that handles bridging related packet filtering).
• IPv6 and TCP Improvements: Error fixes ensure better handling of retransmissions in TCP and improve the reliability of IPv6 implementation in certain network environments.

Tools and Tests

The tool section in this version has also attracted attention. Updates include refreshes to self-tests to ensure that the test tool remains in sync with recent kernel changes. Self-tests of memory management subsystems and network components have been extended to ensure that the kernel is thoroughly tested as it continues to evolve.

Key Improvements:

• Self-test: Added new regression tests for network and file system operations to prevent reintroduction of past errors.
• Performance Tracking Tools: Updates to performance tracking tools ensure that they are compatible with the latest kernel source code updates, helping developers and system administrators continue to monitor and optimize system performance.

Other miscellaneous and bug fixes

In addition to the major changes, RC3 also includes a series of smaller, seemingly random fixes that involve the fields of scheduler, memory management, and io_uring system call interfaces. These fixes are targeting extreme or rare situations that may affect a particular user or workload, but help improve overall stability of the kernel.

Example:

• Scheduler: A small fix was applied to improve error reporting during task scheduling.
• io_uring: Multiple fixes ensure that non-blocking operations can run correctly, even if specific flags are not set.

Try Linux kernel 6.12 RC3

As with any RC version, developers and users are encouraged to test RC3 to help identify any remaining issues before the final version is released.

Users can download the third version of 6.12 from the Kernel.org website or Linus Torvalds' git tree for testing.

Please note that these development versions should not be used in production systems because they are experimental.

Linux Kernel 6.12 RC3 brings many improvements, especially in driver support, file system reliability, and core networking. For more details, see the official release notes in the link given below:

• Linux Kernel 6.12 RC3 Release Notes

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