Linux Kernel 6.11 RC3 Released: A Steady Progress Towards Stability

Linux Kernel 6.11 Third Release Candidate (RC3) Release

Linux creator and main developer Linus Torvalds released the third release candidate (RC3) of Linux kernel 6.11, marking another step towards the final release. Linus describes this version as "nothing particularly strange or interesting", indicating that it is a normal development cycle.

Table of contents

- Main areas of improvement

• Driver update
• Other important changes
• File system enhancement
  • Bcachefs
  • Btrfs
  • SMB
• Architecture-specific improvements
  • ARM64
  • LoongArch
  • x86
• Network improvement
• Graphics and display
• Test Linux kernel 6.11 RC3

Main areas of improvement

Changes in this release candidate are spread across subsystems, with drivers accounting for about half of the changes. The following are the main areas:

Driver update

1. sound
2. Graphics (GPU)
3. network
4. USB
5. Other driver fixes

Other important changes

• File system improvements (bcachefs, btrfs, smb)
• Architecture-specific fixes (arm64, loongarch, x86)
• Document updates
• Network enhancement
• Kernel core and tool repair

File system enhancement

Bcachefs

The Bcachefs file system has been improved, such as:

• Fixed a double release issue in cache device bucket
• Enhanced allocationr debugging for erase encoding
• Fixed allocation from read-only devices
• Make the allocator stuck timeout configurable
• Improved device usage report

Btrfs

The Btrfs file system has received multiple updates:

• Fixed qgroup retention leak in copy write operations
• Improved erase process and strip length calculation
• Added warning about v1 deprecation of space cache

SMB

Solved the issue of setting SecurityFlags when the SMB3 protocol requires encryption.

Architecture-specific improvements

ARM64

ARM64 improvements include:

• Adjusted the equipment tree specifications for Texas Instruments SoCs
• Fixed GPIO range for various platforms

LoongArch

The LoongArch architecture has been enhanced:

• Improved page table entry access
• Universal EFI shutdown method enabled
• Fixed issues related to KVM

x86

The x86 architecture received fixes and enhancements:

• Solved MTRR processing
• Improved page table isolation (PTI) of i386 system

Network improvement

The network stack has received various updates:

• Fixed an out-of-bounds error in max RSS context ID
• Improved vhost-vdpa troubleshooter
• Enhanced multicast processing in bridge devices

Graphics and display

Graphics subsystems, especially AMD and Intel drivers, have made many improvements:

• Fixed GEM shmem test
• Enhanced the expulsion logic of i915 driver
• Improved error reporting for AMD GPUs

Test Linux kernel 6.11 RC3

While no major changes were introduced, kernel 6.11 RC3 brought many minor improvements and bug fixes across various subsystems.

As usual, Torvalds encourages users and developers to download the third release candidate of 6.11 from the Kernel.org website or Linus Torvalds git tree for testing and report any issues they have.

This testing phase is very important for identifying and solving any remaining issues before the final release of Linux 6.11.

If a typical development cycle is followed, we can expect the final version of Linux 6.11 to be released around September 22, 2024 .

resource :

• Linux Kernel 6.11 RC3 Release Notes

Read next :

• Linux kernel 6.11 RC4 release

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