Ubuntu developers are evaluating a new approach to firmware updates for its Hardware Enablement (HWE) stack on Long Term Support (LTS) releases. The proposed change aims to reduce regressions experienced by users on the General Availability (GA) kernel while still providing updated firmware for those utilizing HWE kernels.
Currently, Ubuntu updates the `linux-firmware` package as part of stable release updates. However, Canonical engineer Juerg Haefliger notes that this practice has become problematic, as hardware vendors do not routinely test newer firmware binaries against older kernel versions. This can lead to regressions, particularly for users who have not upgraded to the latest kernel.
Haefliger proposed introducing a `linux-firmware-hwe` package specifically tied to the HWE kernels. This package would depend on and supersede the standard `linux-firmware` package, ensuring that only one set of firmware packages is installed at a time. According to Haefliger, “The problem at the moment is that backporting firmware to LTS releases for their respective HWE kernels often negatively impacts users running the GA kernel. Old kernel with new firmware is not a combination that firmware vendors typically test.” He further explained that recent backports to Ubuntu Noble for the 7.0 HWE kernel introduced at least two AMD regressions for users of the 6.9 kernel.
The proposal, outlined on the Ubuntu mailing list, would mean that systems with both GA and HWE kernels would load the HWE firmware, potentially causing issues when booting the GA kernel. The change is still under consideration and could potentially be implemented for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, or introduced in Ubuntu 26.10 to be pulled into the 26.04 LTS HWE stack.
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