Ubuntu – How to install 12.04 with kernel 3.2

Looks like you're brave enough :) you could try following these instructions to create your own .deb packages from the mainline kernel.

Try reading this general document first:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile

Here are specific instructions on how to compile a kernel for 11.10 (although you'd be doing so from the 3.2 source tree, so some things may ebd up being different).

http://blog.avirtualhome.com/2011/10/28/how-to-compile-a-new-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-kernel/

Now, the problem with these instructions is they assume a source tree with a debian/ directory, which is where the control files that let you build a package reside. It's not a big problem though; it's easy to get a packageable source tree:

1. Get the mainline kernel tree

   git clone https://github.com/torvalds/linux.git
   

2. Look at the latest mainline kernel (as of today http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.2-rc6-precise/). There are three patch files (0001-base-packaging.patch, 0002-debian-changelog.patch, 0003-default-configs.patch). Download these three files.

3. Change to your fresh new linux source directory and apply all 3 patches in order:

   patch -p1 <0001-base-packaging.patch
   
   patch -p1 <0002-debian-changelog.patch
   
   patch -p1 <0003-default-configs.patch
   

You'll now have a nice debian/ directory with packaging information. Then you can apply the instructions in the two URLs I mention above to configure and build packages from your kernel. Hopefully this will also create a kernel-source package.

After a day of investigation, it turns out this problem is apparently just as rampant (see open&product=&content=backlight">http://ati.cchtml.com/buglist.cgi?query_format=specific&order=relevance+desc&bug_status=open&product=&content=backlight) as intermittent resume freeze after suspend when using fglrx module (as opposed to the proprietary driver). For the time being any driver above 9.012 doesn't have backlight support working. As of June 2013, the only workaround (see https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1269560#p1269560) for drivers newer than 9.012 is to press hardware brightness buttons and hold them for several seconds. This will usually cycle between brightest and darkest setting (depending on which button you're holding) which should be ok enough to use the laptop in a way that allows some battery life optimization/autonomy when away from AC but it is also an ugly hack. I guess we will have to wait until AMD releases next version (13.6 beta is also affected) of the driver and hopefully fixes the regression.

For the time being, I will not pick this as my answer in hope someone may come up with a better solution.