Ubuntu Developers Contemplate Linux Firmware HWE Package
Ubuntu developers are proposing a new linux-firmware-hwe package to align firmware updates with Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernels in Long Term Support releases. This change aims to prevent regressions caused by backporting new firmware to older General Availability kernels, a process that often lacks vendor testing. The proposal is currently under consideration and could be implemented in Ubuntu 26.10 to support the 26.04 LTS HWE stack.
- ▪Canonical engineer Juerg Haefliger proposed the linux-firmware-hwe package to address regression issues from firmware backports.
- ▪The new package would depend on HWE kernels and break the standard linux-firmware package to ensure only one set is installed.
- ▪Recent firmware backports to Ubuntu Noble for the 7.0 HWE kernel introduced at least two AMD regressions for 6.9 kernel users.
- ▪The proposal suggests that systems with both GA and HWE kernels will load HWE firmwares for all kernels, which may still pose risks for GA-only boot scenarios.
- ▪The linux-firmware-hwe package may be introduced in Ubuntu 26.10 to be pulled in by the 26.04 LTS HWE stack.
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| Publication time | Sat, 12 Sep 2026 06:25:11 -0400 |
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Ubuntu Developers Contemplate Linux Firmware HWE Package Written by Michael Larabel in Ubuntu on 12 September 2026 at 06:25 AM EDT. Add A Comment A possible future enhancement being considered for Ubuntu Long Term Support "LTS" releases is the introduction of a linux-firmware-hwe package as part of their hardware enablement (HWE) stack. Ubuntu currently ships updated linux-firmware packages as stable release updates, but it can end up being a bit problematic over time where hardware vendors aren't typically testing newer firmware binaries against older kernel versions and the like, which can lead to regressions. The idea raised this week is having a linux-firmware-hwe package tied to the Linux HWE kernels on Ubuntu LTS versions to better align the kernel and firmware.
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