Switch from Mainline to LTS Kernel (T2 MBP19)
1. Install the LTS kernel
sudo apt install linux-t2-lts
2. Make GRUB show the boot menu
By default GRUB skips the menu and boots directly. To see the kernel selection screen, edit the GRUB config:
sudo nano /etc/default/grub
Change these lines:
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
Apply and reboot:
❯ sudo update-grub
❯ sudo reboot
3. Select the LTS kernel
After the Apple boot manager (Option ⌥), the GRUB menu will appear. Select Advanced options for Ubuntu, then choose the LTS kernel (e.g. 6.18.25-1-t2-noble).
4. Verify
❯ uname -r
6.18.25-1-t2-noble
You should see something like 6.18.25-1-t2-noble.
5. Set the LTS kernel as default
Edit GRUB config again:
❯ sudo vim /etc/default/grub
Change the GRUB_DEFAULT line to:
GRUB_DEFAULT="Advanced options for Ubuntu>Ubuntu, with Linux 6.18.25-1-t2-noble"
Apply:
❯ sudo update-grub
Note: GRUB defaults to
GRUB_DEFAULT=0, which picks the highest version number (e.g. 7.0.1). Since the LTS kernel has a lower version number (6.18.x), you must set it explicitly.
6. Clean up old kernel leftovers
To purge leftover configs from previously removed kernels (marked rc):
sudo dpkg --purge $(dpkg --list | grep '^rc' | grep linux-image | awk '{print $2}')
sudo update-grub
7. (Optional) Remove the old mainline kernel
Only after confirming the LTS kernel works properly:
sudo apt remove linux-headers-7.0.1-1-t2-noble linux-image-7.0.1-1-t2-noble
sudo update-grub
Warning: Don’t remove the old kernel before rebooting and verifying the LTS one works. If something goes wrong, you still have the mainline kernel to fall back to via GRUB.