3.10-rc2 – No Go for VMware and NVIDIA…

Just installed kernel 3.10-rc2, and VMware and NVIDIA fail to compile:

VMware:
……………….
/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmnet-only/hub.c: In function ‘VNetHubAlloc’:
/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmnet-only/hub.c:366:28: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmnet-only/hub.c:367:28: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
make[2]: *** [/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmnet-only/hub.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs….
make[1]: *** [_module_/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmnet-only] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-3.10-rc2′
make: *** [vmnet.ko] Error 2
……………..

CC [M]  /tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only/linux/module.o
/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only/linux/control.c: In function ‘SetupProcDevice’:
/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only/linux/control.c:211:4: error: implicit declaration of function ‘create_proc_entry’ [-Werror=implicit-function-declaration]
/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only/linux/control.c:211:21: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast [enabled by default]
/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only/linux/control.c:221:20: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only/linux/control.c: In function ‘ExecuteBlockOp’:
/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only/linux/control.c:285:9: warning: assignment from incompatible pointer type [enabled by default]
/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only/linux/control.c:296:4: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘putname’ from incompatible pointer type [enabled by default]
In file included from include/linux/proc_fs.h:8:0,
from /tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only/linux/control.c:28:
include/linux/fs.h:2042:13: note: expected ‘struct filename *’ but argument is of type ‘char *’
cc1: some warnings being treated as errors
make[2]: *** [/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only/linux/control.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs….
make[1]: *** [_module_/tmp/modconfig-i0TsV7/vmblock-only] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-3.10-rc2′
make: *** [vmblock.ko] Error 2

NVIDIA 310.51:
NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-310.51/kernel/nv-i2c.c: In function ‘nv_i2c_del_adapter’:
/home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-310.51/kernel/nv-i2c.c:327:14: error: void value not ignored as it ought to be
make[4]: *** [/home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-310.51/kernel/nv-i2c.o] Error 1
make[3]: *** [_module_/home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-310.51/kernel] Error 2
make[2]: *** [sub-make] Error 2
NVIDIA: left KBUILD.
nvidia.ko failed to build!

NVIDIA 319.17:
/home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-319.17/kernel/nv-i2c.c:327:14: error: void value not ignored as it ought to be
make[4]: *** [/home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-319.17/kernel/nv-i2c.o] Error 1
make[3]: *** [_module_/home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-319.17/kernel] Error 2
make[2]: *** [sub-make] Error 2
NVIDIA: left KBUILD.
nvidia.ko failed to build!

The NVIDIA errors would appear to be the same for both the ‘released’ and ‘beta’ drivers..

VMware – partial – fix:
There is a patch for vmnet (only) with 3.10-rc1 in this thread:http://communities.vmware.com/thread/446113
- and it works, for vmnet, but with 3.10-rc2 vmblock also fails to compile..

More investigation to follow!

Robert Gadsdon.   May 20, 2013..

3.9.3 – All OK, with VMware and NVIDIA latest..

My swap file boot failure turned out – as I suspected – to be self-inflicted, as I had somehow managed to ‘unselect’ the ”support for paging of anonymous memory (swap)” option under General setup…

Once this was corrected, the 3.9.x kernel compiled – and booted – successfully..

Kernel 3.9.3 compiles the latest VMware (9.02) and NVIDIA (310.51 and ‘beta’ 319.17) drivers successfully..

# uname -a
Linux rg6830l 3.9.3 #1 SMP Mon May 20 10:50:55 PDT 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Robert Gadsdon.   May 20, 2013..

3.9.1 – HP6830s – Hang on Boot…

Just updated my HP6830s laptop to kernel 3.9.1, and got a hang at boot:

…………….
Mounting /boot…
systemd[1]: segfault at 0 ip 00007fede1d04241 sp  00007fff8e4fdf20 error 4 in libc-2.16.so[7fede1c90000+1ad000]
[FAILED] Failed to activate swap /dev/disk/by-uuid/82145a5b-0a2f-4659-9f14-8acf69aea7b4.
……………..
[   OK   ] Reached target Swap.
<<<  HANG  >>>

Reverted to 3.9.0, and everything was OK…     No mention of this – so far – on the LKML (Linux Kernel Mailing List), so it might be something specific to the hardware (and this model of laptop has a rather ‘fragile’ bios…)..

Needs more investigation – or I’ll just wait for 3.9.2..

Robert Gadsdon.   May 9, 2013.

Pi – Right Up to Date, with 3.9!

Kernel 3.9 is just out, and already the Raspberry Pi version is available, at https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/tree/rpi-3.9.y

Use the ‘zip’ download (cloud symbol), which will give you the source tree in rpi-3.9.y.zip..

This is good news, as it suggests that the Pi kernel version is now closely tracking the kernel.org code, after previous versions were delayed somewhat (3.8.y was only released in time for 3.8.4..)

Robert Gadsdon.   May 2, 2013..

3.9 Final – all OK..

Just updated to 3.9.0 ‘final’ from kernel.org, and everything seems to be OK..    As with the -RCs,  VMware (9.02) and NVIDIA (310.44 and beta 319.12) all compile without problems..

# uname -a
Linux rg6830l 3.9.0 #1 SMP Tue Apr 30 01:28:30 PDT 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Robert Gadsdon.  April 30, 2013.

3.9-rc8 – 3.9 Final ‘Soon’…

An unexpected 3.9-rc8 is out, with 3.9 expected in around a week..    This time, I’ll just wait for the ‘Final’, in a week or so..

From Linus:

''Yes, I was really hoping (and originally planning) to release 3.9
final this weekend, but we had enough issues that I just didn't feel
comfy about it. It was borderline, and none of the issues were huge,
and maybe I could have called this just 3.9 and opened the merge
window, but hey, another week won't hurt.
...... ''

Robert Gadsdon.  April 22, 2013.

3.9-rc7 Released, NVIDIA and VMware OK..

Just installed kernel 3.9-rc7 on my test system, and VMware (9.02) and the latest NVIDIA ‘stable’ (310.44) and ‘beta’ (319.12) drivers all compile without problems..

# uname -a
Linux rg6830l 3.9.0-rc7 #1 SMP Mon Apr 15 09:40:44 BST 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

One additional piece of information…   I am running Fedora 18, but using the ‘official’ kernel.org compiled kernels…    If you are using a standard Rawhide (F19) kernel, then the NVIDIA compile will fail..    This is – apparently – due to the fact that these Rawhide kernels have debugging features enabled, which will effectively block any non-GPL code from compiling for them.    There are non-debug versions of Rawhide kernels available, and details are at: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/RawhideKernelNodebug   Thanks to benedikt for reporting this problem (see comments on previous post http://rglinuxtech.com/?p=700).
It is also possible that the VMware (re)compile may fail, with standard Rawhide kernels, although I have not tested this, myself..

Robert Gadsdon.  April 15, 2013.

Pi – ‘Final’ 3.8 Kernel Released

Just installed the ‘final / released’ version of the Raspberry Pi 3.8 kernel, from https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/tree/rpi-3.8.y, and everything seems to be behaving..   This is already based on 3.8.6, so no need (yet) to apply any ‘incrementals’…

Fedora release 18 (Spherical Cow)
Kernel 3.8.6-pi on an armv6l (ttyAMA0)
………………..
# uname -a
Linux rgpi 3.8.6-pi #1 PREEMPT Fri Apr 12 20:41:26 BST 2013 armv6l armv6l armv6l GNU/Linux

Robert Gadsdon.   April 12, 2013

New NVIDIA ‘Optimus’ Driver, Compiles OK..

Just downloaded the new NVIDIA ‘beta’ driver – 319.12 – and it compiles without problems on kernels 3.8.6 and 3.9-rc6 (as you would expect!)..

More (technical!) details here:
https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/539249/unix-graphics-announcements-and-news/-linux-solaris-and-freebsd-driver-319-12-beta-/

Robert Gadsdon.  April 10, 2013.

3.9-rc6 – Still no problems with VMware and NVIDIA

Just installed 3.9-rc6, and the latest VMware (9.02) and NVIDIA (‘stable’ 310.44 and ‘beta’ 313.30) drivers all compile OK..

There will probably be one more -rc (7) before 3.9 Final is released..

# uname -a
Linux rg6830l 3.9.0-rc6 #1 SMP Mon Apr 8 12:19:21 BST 2013 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Robert Gadsdon.   April 8, 2013.