Thanks to Michal Kubeček, the source of the VMware problem with Kernel 4.18-rc1 has been found, and a Kernel patch produced: http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1806.2/02730.html I have applied this, and can confirm that VMware (14.1.2 patched) now operates correctly.. The kernel patch now has to run the gauntlet of the LKML ‘review process’, and so may be changed over time, … Continue reading →
VMware 14.1.2 worked OK with Kernel 4.17, on my Fedora 28 test system, but after updating to 4.18-rc1 the following occurred: Modules (vmmon/vmnet) compiled OK, but – after further testing – appeared to have a runtime problem.. I applied the vmmon patches from Michal Kubeček, at https://github.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/commit/3f2a6c720f68 and this also compiled cleanly. When I ran # vmware-modconfig … Continue reading →
Kernel 4.18-rc1 has been released – earlier than expected, but Linus is in Japan, where it was already Sunday.. Brief details are here: http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1806.2/00125.html Tested with VMware 14.1.2, and vmmon/vmnet compile OK, but NVIDIA fails: …………………………. CC [M] /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.67/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-drv.o In file included from /usr/src/linux-4.18-rc1/include/drm/drmP.h:82, from /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.67/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-priv.h:30, from /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.67/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-drv.c:25: /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-390.67/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-drv.c:637:23: error: ‘DRM_CONTROL_ALLOW’ undeclared here (not in a function); … Continue reading →
There are now patches available to deal with the host of ‘objtool‘ warnings when compiling the kernel with GCC8: …………………………….. drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.o: warning: objtool: fb_set_var()+0x209: sibling call from callable instruction with modified stack frame drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.o: warning: objtool: do_remove_conflicting_framebuffers()+0xa6: sibling call from callable instruction with modified stack frame drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.o: warning: objtool: register_framebuffer()+0x14b: sibling call from callable instruction with modified … Continue reading →
Thanks – again – to Michal Kubeček, who has pointed out that there is still a vulnerability in some VMware (vmmon) code, that is not mitigated by Kernel/Compiler retpoline fixes, as it is written in assembler.. ( See comment on previous article – http://rglinuxtech.com/?p=2277 ) He has provided an appropriate fix for this, at https://github.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/tree/player-14.1.1 Robert Gadsdon. … Continue reading →
Kernel version 4.16 is out, and brief details of changes since -rc7 are here: http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1804.0/00174.html $ uname -a Linux rglx 4.16.0 #1 SMP Sun Apr 1 15:20:00 PDT 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux This release is OK with VMware 14.1.1, and with NVIDIA 384.130/390.48 with the swiotlb-removing patch.. ( see http://rglinuxtech.com/?p=2227 ). Hopefully NVIDIA will get round … Continue reading →
Thanks to the efforts of mlau on the NVIDIA Devtalk Forum, there is a possible fix for the swiotlb issue with Kernel 4.16.. See https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/1030082/linux/kernel-4-16-rc1-breaks-latest-drivers-unknown-symbol-swiotlb_map_sg_attrs-/ for details.. For NVIDIA driver 384.111, I had to increment all the nv–linux.h patch line number references by 100 (so ‘…@@ –1209,6 +1209,7 @@… becomes …@@ –1309,6 +1309,7 @@..’ and ‘..@@ -1251,7 … Continue reading →
I had previously tested Kernel 4.14.11-rc1 with the 4.14.9+-patched NVIDIA driver 384.98, and that was OK: ………………….. ld -r -o /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98-41410/kernel/nvidia-modeset/nv-modeset-interface.o /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98-41410/kernel/nvidia-modeset/nvidia-modeset-linux.o Building modules, stage 2. MODPOST 4 modules CC /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98-41410/kernel/nvidia-drm.mod.o LD [M] /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98-41410/kernel/nvidia-drm.ko CC /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98-41410/kernel/nvidia-modeset.mod.o LD [M] /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98-41410/kernel/nvidia-modeset.ko CC /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98-41410/kernel/nvidia-uvm.mod.o LD [M] /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98-41410/kernel/nvidia-uvm.ko CC /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98-41410/kernel/nvidia.mod.o LD [M] /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98-41410/kernel/nvidia.ko make[2]: Leaving directory ‘/usr/src/linux-4.14.11-rc1’ make[1]: Leaving directory ‘/usr/src/linux-4.14.11-rc1’ … Continue reading →
Just tried the ‘stable-review’ patch for the ‘stable’ Kernel – 4.14.11-rc1, and the same NVIDIA problem is there, and it seems the kernel devs won’t do anything: http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1712.3/02608.html So – it seems the patch is now a permanent requirement for all subsequent 4.14 releases.. (see http://rglinuxtech.com/?p=2168 ).. And… It seems the unwritten rule of ‘don’t break stuff … Continue reading →
Just updated the test system to Kernel 4.14.10, and was ‘somewhat dismayed‘ – to put it politely – that the NVIDIA breakage introduced in 4.14.9 is still there! ………… /home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-384.98/kernel/nvidia-uvm/uvm8_va_block.c: In function ‘block_cpu_fault_locked’: /usr/src/linux-4.14.10/arch/x86/include/asm/processor.h:826:39: error: implicit declaration of function ‘task_stack_page’; did you mean ‘task_stack_vm_area’? [-Werror=implicit-function-declaration] unsigned long __ptr = (unsigned long)task_stack_page(task); \ ^ /usr/src/linux-4.14.10/arch/x86/include/asm/processor.h:900:26: note: in expansion … Continue reading →