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I'm using the Linux Kernal 2.4.22-14-rt, which is realtime (for audio).

What are the downfalls of using this kernal over the default one? I installed it using sudo apt-get install linux-rt .

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Quick summary for : a realtime (RT) kernel gives much tighter worst‑case latency (lower jitter) by making the kernel far more preemptible — that’s why musicians and JACK users chased RT kernels. It’s also heavier to maintain and can change how drivers, IRQs and locking behave, so it isn’t a free win. Most JACK users, however, can get acceptable realtime scheduling without an RT kernel; an RT kernel is mainly useful only for very-low-latency settings or troublesome hardware. (kernel.org)

Practical downfalls you’ll see in day‑to‑day use: out‑of‑tree/binary drivers or third‑party kernel modules often need rebuilding (DKMS or manual recompilation) when you switch kernels; some power‑management or desktop features may behave differently; and you may trade raw throughput or stability for reduced latency. Test carefully before making the RT kernel your default. These are not hypothetical — module-version mismatches and DKMS rebuilds are common when changing kernels. (iitk.ac.in)

Concrete, safe steps (adds to and ): first confirm which kernel you’re running and which RT packages are installed; don’t remove the kernel you’re booted into and keep one known-good fallback in GRUB. If you decide to remove the RT package, find the exact package name with dpkg/your package manager, remove that package with your distro’s package tool, then regenerate GRUB so its menu is correct (and clean up any leftover /lib/modules or initrd images). If /boot fills, remove cautiously (remove one old image at a time). For long‑term readers: PREEMPT_RT has since been merged into mainline kernels (so modern distros handle RT differently than a 2.4 era package). (wiki.ubuntu.com)

Quick commands to run before you change anything:

uname -r
dpkg -l 'linux-image*' | grep -i rt
sudo update-grub   # or your distro's grub-mkconfig equivalent

Keep a working fallback in GRUB, test audio latency with cyclictest/rt‑tests or JACK settings before committing, and only remove the RT package once you’ve verified the fallback boots.

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Member Avatar for jbennet

dont know but if theres any problems you can always just select your normal kernel from GRUB

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And how does one uninstall a kernal if they don't want it any more?

Member Avatar for John A

>And how does one uninstall a kernal if they don't want it any more?
With apt-get remove linux-2.4.22-14-rt --purge (you can also use dpkg to remove a specific version, e.g. dpkg -P linux-2.4.22-14-rt ).

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