Category Archives: Opinion

VMware – 15.5.1 Released – Just Runtime Client Security Fixes?

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VMware have released version 15.5.1, and details are here:  https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-1551-Pro-Release-Notes.html The Linux-kernel-related stuff appears to be unchanged, and compiles (with several warnings..) with Kernel 5.3 (tested with 5.3.11).    I got some odd behaviour (shared folders becoming disabled?) when running this unpatched version, and so applied the patched 15.5.0 vmmon/vmnet, which seems to work better.. Robert Gadsdon.    November … Continue reading →

NVIDIA – Driver 440.31 Released – Finally, Compiles Cleanly with Kernel 5.4..

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NVIDIA have just released driver 440.31, and details are here:  https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/1065987/announcements-and-news/linux-solaris-and-freebsd-driver-440-31-long-lived-branch-release-/ I have tested this with Kernel 5.4-rc6, and – as mentioned in the release notes – there is no annoying ‘Module.symvers…‘ message any more. Robert Gadsdon.  November 4th, 2019.

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Kernel – 5.4-rc3 is Out – No More Bogus Warnings..

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Kernel 5.4-rc3 has been released, and brief details of changes since -rc2 are here: http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1910.1/05411.html The patched versions of VMware 15.5.0 and NVIDIA 435.21 now compile without all the spurious warnings etc.. Robert Gadsdon.  October 13th 2019.

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NVIDIA – Kernel 5.4-rc Patch for 435.21

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Thanks to loqs, there is a patch for driver 435.21 and kernel 5.4-rc, at http://ix.io/1MRE . I have tested this with 5.4-rc2, and it now compiles successfully: ………………………………. WARNING: module nvidia uses symbol filp_open from namespace /NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-435.21-54rc2/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-gem-user-memory.o: $(deps_/home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-435.21-54rc2/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-gem-user-memory.o), but does not import it. WARNING: module nvidia uses symbol cpufreq_get from namespace VIDIA-Linux-x86_64-435.21-54rc2/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-gem-user-memory.o: $(deps_/home/rgadsdon/kernel/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-435.21-54rc2/kernel/nvidia-drm/nvidia-drm-gem-user-memory.o), but does not import … Continue reading →

Kernel – 5.4-rc2 is Out. No Change from rc1, so far?

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Kernel 5.4-rc2 has been released, and brief details are here: http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1910.0/07213.html The odd behaviour of VMware and NVIDIA compiles still occurs, but there are patches submitted (see comments under -rc1 article https://rglinuxtech.com/?p=2614 for more details).   So far, I have not seen a fix for the NVIDIA compile failure. Robert Gadsdon.  October 7th 2019.  

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Kernel – 5.4-rc1 Released – Odd Quirks with Kernel Symbols

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Kernel 5.4-rc1 is out – a day later than usual, and brief details are here: http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1909.3/04895.html My tests with VMware and NVIDIA revealed some odd errors/warning relating to kernel symbols.. With the latest NVIDIA (435.21) I got the following: # make make[1]: Entering directory ‘/usr/src/linux-5.4-rc1’ The Module.symvers file is missing, or does not contain any symbols exported … Continue reading →

VMware – Version 15.5 is Out – Compiles with Kernel 5.3..

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VMware have released Workstation version 15.5.0, and the release notes can be found here:  https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Workstation-Pro/15.5/rn/VMware-Workstation-155-Pro-Release-Notes.html The real surprise is that this actually compiles ( although not very cleanly) with Kernel 5.3 (tested with 5.3.0, and GCC 9.2.1, on Fedora 30).. …………………. /tmp/modconfig-rtOtwQ/vmnet-only/vnetEvent.o: warning: objtool: If this is a retpoline, please patch it in with alternatives and annotate … Continue reading →

Kernel – 5.3 Finally Here – OK with Latest NVIDIA, and Patched VMware

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Kernel 5.3 has been released, and brief details are here:  http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1909.1/05539.html Tested with VMware 15.1.0 (patched, as usual..) and NVIDIA 435.21, and both compile/run OK.. Robert Gadsdon.   September 15th 2019.

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ARM – Original Hikey Updated and Fixed – with Gotchas..

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After successfully updating and re-configuring the Odroid C2 to use Fedora uefi/grub2 to boot, I decided to try to do the same to the even-older Hikey SOC. This already booted using fastboot with an older version of grub, with manual configuration, but I wanted to use the standard (Fedora) boot process. I had read that there was … Continue reading →

Fedora – Fix for Broken rpmbuild in Fedora 31.

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Testing Fedora 31 – which is still work-in-progress, of course.. Tried to use # rpmbuild –rebuild to create a missing RPM from a F30 source RPM, and found the following error: ………….. Illegal char ‘)’ (0x29) in: Obsoletes:………. I found a reference to this error in the buglist, but it had been flagged as ‘rawhide’, and closed, … Continue reading →