Unable to get Alder Lake-N Intel Graphics to work in Zorin-17.2

Hi Guys! Happy Friday! Long time user/admin of Zorin - first time on the forums. I haven't been able to get Zorin to support the Alder Lake-N Intel Graphics that I have on some new mini-PCs. I was able to boot Ubuntu 24.04 on it and it supported it without issue. I worked with Zorin tech support on this for nearly 2 weeks - it got escalated to development and while they research the issue they recommend I reach out to you fine folks for suggestions.

Here's the info I gathered from the machine running Zorin-17.2:
it-admin@Zorin-20:~$ uname -a
Linux Zorin-20 6.5.0-45-generic #45~22.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Jul 15 16:40:02 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

it-admin@Zorin-20:~$ sudo lshw -C video
[sudo] password for it-admin:
*-display UNCLAIMED
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Intel Corporation
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
version: 00
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: iomemory:600-5ff iomemory:400-3ff memory:6000000000-6000ffffff memory:4000000000-400fffffff ioport:5000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff memory:4010000000-4016ffffff memory:4020000000-40ffffffff
*-graphics
product: EFI VGA
physical id: 4
logical name: /dev/fb0
capabilities: fb
configuration: depth=32 resolution=800,600

it-admin@Zorin-20:~$ inxi
CPU: quad core Intel N150 (-MCP-) speed/min/max: 1044/700/3600 MHz
Kernel: 6.5.0-45-generic x86_64 Up: 2d 16h 6m Mem: 3090.8/7710.6 MiB (40.1%)
Storage: 256.87 GiB (6.2% used) Procs: 295 Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.13

it-admin@Zorin-20:~$ inxi -G
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel driver: N/A
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: vesa
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting gpu: N/A resolution: 800x600~75Hz
OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.7 256 bits)
v: 4.5 Mesa 23.2.1-1ubuntu3.1~22.04.3

If I look for this same information from Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Live here's what I get:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ uname -a
Linux ubuntu 6.11.0-17-generic #17~24.04.2-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Jan 20 22:48:29 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo lshw -C video
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Alder Lake-N [Intel Graphics]
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
logical name: /dev/fb0
version: 00
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom fb
configuration: depth=32 driver=i915 latency=0 mode=1600x900 resolution=1600,900 visual=truecolor xres=1600 yres=900
resources: iomemory:600-5ff iomemory:400-3ff irq:132 memory:6000000000-6000ffffff memory:4000000000-400fffffff ioport:5000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff memory:4010000000-4016ffffff memory:4020000000-40ffffffff

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ inxi
CPU: quad core Intel N150 (-MCP-) speed/min/max: 715/700/3600 MHz
Kernel: 6.11.0-17-generic x86_64 Up: 11m Mem: 2.89/7.54 GiB (38.3%)
Storage: 249.72 GiB (0.0% used) Procs: 258 Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.34
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ inxi -G
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-N [Intel Graphics] driver: i915 v: kernel
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6 driver: X:
loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915
resolution: 1600x900~75Hz
API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: iris,swrast platforms: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa
v: 24.2.8-1ubuntu1~24.04.1 renderer: Mesa Intel Graphics (ADL-N)

What do you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

To get the later Intel Alder Lake support, I would start with Zorin OS 17 as your base OS, then upgrade the kernel for your specific use case:
In your BIOS Settings: Disable Secure Boot
Boot into Zorin OS. Launch terminal and add the TuxInvader Kernel repo:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tuxinvader/jammy-mainline

sudo apt update && sudo apt install --reinstall linux-generic-hwe-22.04-edge

Install the 6.12 kernel:

sudo apt install linux-generic-6.12

Reboot and test.
From the grub menu, you can also select which kernel you are booting from.

inxi -G

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Wow! Nicely done. That did the trick. Thanks so much!

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The ZorinGroup will adhere to the means contained within the Current Zorin OS development - including the currently Zorin Supported Kernel.

Here on the community support forums, we can step outside a bit and use third party means (In this case, an independently supported kernel supply).

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