Has a Linux update ever broken something on my computer? Yes. Have I ever needed to revert versions? Yes.
Has a Linux update ever broken my computer so badly, that a hardware component on the motherboard had permanently stopped working, even after reinstalling firmware? No, but a windows update did once. I had to dual-boot Mint just so I could use WiFi.
So, wait, you are claiming that a Windows update broke your hardware so bad you had to reinstall the firmware, but it magically worked on a linux distro? First of all, that means it wasn’t “permanently stopped [from] working”. Second, I hate to break it to you, but it sounds like Windows might have fucked up a setting, and then you user-errored your way into breaking things. I’ve never had something break that can’t be fixed with a full system restore or reinstall, and it sounds like you had a problem just like that. If it worked on Linux, you could have gotten it working on Windows, too, because it’s clearly a software error at that point.
Don’t know what to tell you. All I know is that WiFi worked before the update, and then didn’t after. Updating the firmware didn’t fix it. Reinstalling the OS didn’t fix it. Taking it to the PC repair shop didn’t fix it. Replacing the network card didn’t fix it. But dual-booting Linux mint did fix it, on the mint partition, at least.
Has a Linux update ever broken something on my computer? Yes. Have I ever needed to revert versions? Yes.
Has a Linux update ever broken my computer so badly, that a hardware component on the motherboard had permanently stopped working, even after reinstalling firmware? No, but a windows update did once. I had to dual-boot Mint just so I could use WiFi.
So, wait, you are claiming that a Windows update broke your hardware so bad you had to reinstall the firmware, but it magically worked on a linux distro? First of all, that means it wasn’t “permanently stopped [from] working”. Second, I hate to break it to you, but it sounds like Windows might have fucked up a setting, and then you user-errored your way into breaking things. I’ve never had something break that can’t be fixed with a full system restore or reinstall, and it sounds like you had a problem just like that. If it worked on Linux, you could have gotten it working on Windows, too, because it’s clearly a software error at that point.
Don’t know what to tell you. All I know is that WiFi worked before the update, and then didn’t after. Updating the firmware didn’t fix it. Reinstalling the OS didn’t fix it. Taking it to the PC repair shop didn’t fix it. Replacing the network card didn’t fix it. But dual-booting Linux mint did fix it, on the mint partition, at least.