THESE EFI UPGRADES
If you’re running Ubuntu 20.10 on your PC, then keep an eye out for the prompt to update to Ubuntu 21.04. If you miss it, just open Software Updater and it should be offered to you.
At the time of writing, the upgrade option was being held back because of a potential issue that prevents PCs running older EFIs from booting.
This problem should be resolved by the time you read this, but if not, open Terminal and then issue the following command:
$ dmesg|grep “EFI v”
So long as the version number is greater than 1.10 you shouldn’t be affected by the bug. If you’re impatient to upgrade, force the upgrade with the following command:
$ sudo do-release-upgrade -d
If you’re running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on the desktop, then you’re less than a year away from the next LTS release in April 2022. If you’ve decided you’re ready to switch from the long-term support channel to the six-monthly release channel, then open Software & Updates, switch to the Updates tab, and change the ‘Notify me of a new Ubuntu version’ drop-down to ‘For any new version’.
By now, a few months have passed since Ubuntu 21.04 made its first appearance, and any initial bugs should have been ironed out, although if you’re feeling ultra-cautious, we recommend waiting another month or two before taking the plunge.
After you switch release channels, open Software Updater and you should see Ubuntu 21.04 is now available. Click Upgrade… to install it. Users running Ubuntu Server on their system will need to edit the release-upgrades file:
$ sudo nano /etc/update-manager/ release-upgrades
Change the Prompt=lts line to Prompt=normal , then save the file and exit. Finally, issue this command: $ sudo do-release-upgrade