Solved. I reinstalled the whole system exactly the same, then created a timeslide this time, to then update the kernal..and network was, fine and working as expected.
The previous install was a fresh install, I had just started using the linux mint firewall,in the same session, before installing the kernal update. The issue was with the firewall that comes with linux mint, when booted with firewall on, it did not allow network shares to operate correctly, thereabouts: -the firewall to linux mint is by default off (which is obviously a bad idea as some users wont find it till later, and may assume its already on). -the built in firewall to linux mint does not have a "learning/training mode", which is a essential feature in my mind, to have prompts on new internet access by apps. -after booting with firewall on, then turning the firewall off, then the network shares do still not work, obviously samba needs some rule creation for firewall to be on (looking into this). Thus, I do apologise, im a new user to linux, but, the issue was not with the kernal, its with the firewall that ships with linux mint, or the samba not automatically/prompting creating firewall rules. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1939845 Title: Kernal update 5.4.0-81 broke samba network To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1939845/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
