The Kernel
The CachyOS performance kernel Genesi ships, and how to switch between kernel flavors.
Genesi ships the CachyOS kernel (linux-cachyos) instead of the stock Arch
kernel. It's the same kernel the whole system tuning story is built on: compiled
with aggressive optimizations (LTO, -O3) for the optimized repositories,
and carrying the BORE scheduler plus sched-ext
support out of the box.
Which kernel am I running?
uname -rA CachyOS kernel reports something like 6.x.x-2-cachyos.
Kernel flavors
linux-cachyos is a good default for almost everyone. CachyOS also builds
several specialized flavors — you can install more than one and pick at boot:
| Package | Good for |
|---|---|
linux-cachyos | Default — balanced desktop/gaming performance |
linux-cachyos-lts | Long-term support; the safe fallback kernel |
linux-cachyos-hardened | Security-focused, extra mitigations |
linux-cachyos-rt / linux-cachyos-rt-bore | Real-time (audio/pro workloads) |
linux-cachyos-server | Throughput-tuned for headless/server use |
Install a second kernel (always with its matching -headers):
sudo pacman -S linux-cachyos-lts linux-cachyos-lts-headersAlways install the matching -headers package. Anything built against the
kernel — NVIDIA's DKMS driver, VirtualBox, some VPNs — needs the headers, or
the module won't rebuild and the feature breaks after an update.
After installing, reboot and choose the kernel from your
boot manager. Keeping linux-cachyos-lts
installed alongside the default gives you a known-good kernel to fall back to if
a mainline update ever misbehaves.
The Kernel Manager
Genesi inherits CachyOS's graphical Kernel Manager (cachyos-kernel-manager),
which lists every available flavor and installs or removes them for you — handy
if you'd rather not use pacman directly. You can also use it to build a custom
kernel with your own patches and scheduler.
For the full flavor list and the details of each patch set, see the CachyOS kernel documentation and Arch Wiki: Kernel, both of which apply directly to Genesi.