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Readme: include steps to target new kernel

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Mathy 2016-09-19 15:45:23 +02:00
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@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ April 2016: we now support Linux kernels 3.0 up to and including 4.4! See the [m
* [Installation and Source Code](#installation-and-source-code) * [Installation and Source Code](#installation-and-source-code)
* [Raspberry Pi Support](#raspberry-pi-support) * [Raspberry Pi Support](#raspberry-pi-support)
* [Repositories](#repositories) * [Repositories](#repositories)
* [Supporting new kernels](#supporting-new-kernels)
## Quick Start ## Quick Start
@ -215,3 +216,17 @@ To compile the Linux and ath9k-htc firmware, read the documentation of these pro
For those who also want to start hacking away at the driver and firmware, I recommend first reviewing our patches. This allows you to study what our changes do, and inspect the firmware code at small chunks one at a time. That way it's easier to learn step by step. Maybe you will even find bugs or can make improvements (let us know). Also, in the `ath9k-htc` repository, there is a directory called `docs`. While still terse to read, these documents should be an excellent guide while reading and understanding the code. For those who also want to start hacking away at the driver and firmware, I recommend first reviewing our patches. This allows you to study what our changes do, and inspect the firmware code at small chunks one at a time. That way it's easier to learn step by step. Maybe you will even find bugs or can make improvements (let us know). Also, in the `ath9k-htc` repository, there is a directory called `docs`. While still terse to read, these documents should be an excellent guide while reading and understanding the code.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send us a mail. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send us a mail.
## Supporting new kernels
We rely on the [driver backports project](https://backports.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page) to ship our modified drivers (as installable modules) to older kernels. This provides two advantages: (1) the drivers can be installed as modules, meaning user don't have to (re)compile a linux kernel; and (2) these drivers (i.e., modules) are compatible with many recent kernel versions. Officially the [backports project tracks the linux-next tree](https://backports.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Documentation/backports/hacking#Git_trees_you_will_need). This means it extracts, and backports, recents drivers (as loadable modules) from the linux-next tree. However, we base our code on [Linus' tree](http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git), because [basing code on linux-next is not really possible](https://lwn.net/Articles/289013/).
To target a new kernel there are two cases:
1. There is a `linux-x.y.z` branch of the kernel you want to target. Checkout this branch, use it to extract modified drivers. Should be relatively simple.
2. We need to create our own `linux-x.y.z` branch. I call my own batches of this type `mathy-x.y.z`. It is best to first get backports working against a linux-next tag that was tested by the backports project itself. Then I found that, with some minor patches, backports will also work against Linus' tree of a specific version tag that is close to the tested linux-next snapshot. So find the latest linux-next snapshot that is compatible with the backports project. [How to get linux-next](https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/linux-next.html). You may need to use [linux-next-history](http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/next/linux-next-history.git) for this, which [contains all linux-next tags](http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1108.0/00555.html) ever created. It may be that backports cannot cleanly extract the driver code. If so, crease a new research branch in the backports repository, and modify the patches so everything cleanly applies and compiles.
**Use python2 when using backports**. Some scripts may fail if python3 is the default.
Note that branches named `mathy-x.y.z` are custom branches, I personally use them to create backports for my _currently running_ linux kernel. For example, `mathy-4.7.y` can take code from linux-next, and will compile on Linux 4.7.4. However, it may not compile on older kernels! While working on backports, you may find it useful to use `rediff` from the `patchutils` package to manually change patch files.