Category Archives: Hacks

VMware – Vmnet Surprise in Kernel 6.4.10.. and a Fix..

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Kernel 6.4.10 includes a backported change from the 6.5-rc branch, and this breaks the vmnet 17.0.2 compile.. The fix is to replicate the same logic from the 6.5 ‘tmp’ branch, at https://github.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/blob/tmp/workstation-17.0.2-k6.5/vmnet-only/bridge.c – around line 47..    For some odd reason, this did not behave correctly on my system, and so I modified/simplified the kernel-version-test portion of … Continue reading →

ARM64 – Rock Pi N10 – Finally Booting From NVME..

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I had managed to get Fedora running on my Rock Pi N10 some considerable time ago, but still was frustrated by the – apparent – lack of support for NVME, despite the slot for one in the chassis, and u-boot commands included..  I had posted this question to the RADXA Forum, but did not get a useful … Continue reading →

Kernel – 6.4-rc Pre-release Testing.. Breaks NVIDIA, VMware OK..

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Usual caveat..  Not all changes are yet in place, and any code changes are suggestions/hacks only – not a expert recommendation! Testing an interim release (April 29th) of Kernel 6.4-rc, and NVIDIA 530.41.03 fails to compile: LD [M] /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-530.41.03/kernel/nvidia-modeset.o CC [M] /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-530.41.03/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm.o CC [M] /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-530.41.03/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-drv.o /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-530.41.03/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-drv.c: In function ‘nv_drm_update_drm_driver_features’: /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-530.41.03/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-drv.c:1439:18: error: ‘struct drm_driver’ has no member named … Continue reading →

Kernel – 6.3-rc1 Bugs Found, Patch Available..

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Issues have been found with new Kernel 6.3-rc1, and details are here: https://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2303.0/04622.html and patch info is here:  https://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2303.0/05801.html I have not encountered any of the problems mentioned (Intel x86_64 on an HP Prodesk 400 G4 system) but can confirm that the patch (correctly formatted, from the Linux Kernel newsgroup..) applies cleanly.. Robert Gadsdon.   March 6th 2023.. … Continue reading →

Kernel – 6.3-rc1 – OK with Latest VMware, Breaks NVIDIA – Fix Possible..

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Kernel 6.3-rc1 is out, and details are here:   https://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2303.0/04362.html The latest (patched) VMware 17.0.1 is OK, but NVIDIA 530.30.02 fails to compile: ………………………………… /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-530.30.02/kernel/nvidia/nv-mmap.c: In function ‘nvidia_mmap_numa’: /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-530.30.02/kernel/nvidia/nv-mmap.c:461:19: error: assignment of read-only member ‘vm_flags’ 461 | vma->vm_flags |= VM_MIXEDMAP; | ^~ /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-530.30.02/kernel/nvidia/nv-mmap.c: In function ‘nvidia_mmap_helper’: /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-530.30.02/kernel/nvidia/nv-mmap.c:606:23: error: assignment of read-only member ‘vm_flags’ 606 | vma->vm_flags |= VM_IO … Continue reading →

Fedora – F38 – ‘Old’ RPMs Gotcha, and Workaround..

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Testing Fedora 38, and found a problem with some ‘legacy’ RPMs.. Fedora 38 now strictly enforces SHA256 for all RPMs and older/third-party ones still using SHA1 now throw an error: # rpm -q webmin error: rpmdbNextIterator: skipping h# 2316 Header V4 DSA/SHA1 Signature, key ID 11f63c51: BAD Header SHA1 digest: OK package webmin is not installed But…: … Continue reading →

Kernel – 6.2-rc1 is out, for Xmas..

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Kernel 6.2-rc1 has been released, and details are here:   https://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2212.3/00313.html As expected, VMware 17 with the latest patchset is OK, but NVIDIA 525.60.13 fails to compile.. There is a provisional NVIDIA patch for kernel 6.2-rc1 available, but this has been produced for driver 470.xx, and does not apply cleanly to 525.60.13, but I hacked it (removing the … Continue reading →

Kernel/Boot – Bizarre Dracut problem – Bogus Apple Modules Added, Fails – Cause Found..

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During update of the kernel to 6.0.9, on my main dual-xeon Fedora 37 system, I found the following error displayed: ……………………… dracut-install: Failed to find module ‘apple_mailbox’ dracut: FAILED: /usr/lib/dracut/dracut-install -D /var/tmp/dracut.SGbOUU/initramfs –kerneldir /lib/modules/6.0.9/ -m apple_mailbox nvme_apple pinctrl-apple-gpio macsmc macsmc-rtkit i2c-apple tps6598x apple-dart dwc3 dwc3-of-simple xhci-pci pcie-apple gpio_macsmc spi-apple spi-hid-apple spi-hid-apple-of rtc-macsmc simple-mfd-spmi spmi-apple-controller nvmem_spmi_mfd apple-dockchannel dockchannel-hid … Continue reading →

Kernel – 6.0-rc1 is here – No Surprises..

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After over three years of the 5.x kernel series, 6.0-rc1 has been released, and brief details are here:  https://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2208.1/06638.html With the latest version of the 16.2.4 patchset (updated a few days ago..) VMware compiles and loads/runs OK..    https://github.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/tree/workstation-16.2.4 NVIDIA 515.65.01 – with the one-line hack mentioned in the previous article – compiles and runs OK..   (YMMV – … Continue reading →

NVIDIA – Possible Fix for 6.0?

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After more testing, I found a potential fix for the ‘Kernel 6.0-rc0’ compile problem.. In NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-helper.c: Around Line 30: add: #include <drm/drm_framebuffer.h> And the compile completes successfully: ……………………….. ld -r -o /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-modeset/nv-modeset-interface.o /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-modeset/nvidia-modeset-linux.o /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-modeset/nv-kthread-q.o MODPOST /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/Module.symvers CC [M] /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-drm.mod.o LD [M] /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-drm.ko CC [M] /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-modeset.mod.o LD [M] /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-modeset.ko CC [M] /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-peermem.mod.o LD [M] /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-peermem.ko CC [M] /home/rgadsdon/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-515.65.01/kernel/nvidia-uvm.mod.o … Continue reading →