Hey! Hope this is a good place for these types questions!

I've been on Linux for the last couple of years. Tested a few distros before landing on Mint. Its perfect for a half-techie like me.

Towards the end of last year I had to replace my laptop due to a hardware failure. I landed on a Lenovo which was sold without an OS. Unfortunately I've been having some audio issues, and support hasn't been super helpful. Ive been doing tons of troubleshooting to solve ir, but to no avail. To make it more frustrating, I briefly installed windows just to check, and there everything works as intendes. So it doesn't seem like a hardware issue...

Before actually returning the device I figured it would be worth a shot to see if the issue persisted in the latest kernel. The problem is that I dont really know the best way to do that, and searching isn't really helping since I dont really fully understand what I'm asking.

So Im turning to you for help in the hope that some kind soul can point me in the right direction. What is the easiest way for me to get the latest kernel running on my machine? I don't mind wiping the computer, or if its unstable, or installing another distro to get there. I just want to see if it can get the audio working and I don't know where to start. Everything I find seems to be a bit behind.

Thanks!