Linux Kernel Patchset

From Poggs' Wiki

1 Why patch?
2 About the patches
3 Current kernel patch
- 3.1 Kernel 2.6.24
  - 3.1.1 Release 2008-01-27
4 Older kernel patches
- 4.1 Kernel 2.6.23
  - 4.1.1 Release 2007-12-02
  - 4.1.2 Release 2007-10-12
- 4.2 Kernel 2.6.22
  - 4.2.1 Release 2007-10-06

Why patch?

I run a number of machines - a desktop, laptop, production web-server and VoIP box. Each of them runs a slightly different kernel revision, and each requires different patches to remain up-to-date with drivers and features:

Machine	Broadcom NIC	Marvell NIC	Intel ipw3945	TuxOnIce	Zaptel	Custom ACPI DSDT	VMware	MH Bluetooth
angel.st-albans.poggs.net	N	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y
neasden.st-albans.poggs.net	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
tufnell.london.poggs.net	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N
highgate.st-albans.poggs.net	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	N

Any attempt to try to standardise a kernel version is tricky - each machine has a different .config file, with a slightly different set of options, and usually has its own kernel source in /usr/src.

I decided to spend some time creating a unified patchset which included all the above patches, with changes to ensure they apply sensibly, reproducibly and without errors.

The resulting patchset is unlikely to be much use to you, however I will soon document the process I used so you can use it for your own unified patchsets.

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About the patches

Each .diff file must be applied to a freshly unpacked base image - for example, a 2.6.23 release must be applied to a stock 2.6.23 kernel, not 2.6.23.1.

Patch items in bold are later versions of a patch than the previous release. All other patch items are identical, apart from fix-ups to allow them to apply cleanly to kernel sources.

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Current kernel patch

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Kernel 2.6.24

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Release 2008-01-27

Download patch-poggs-2.6.24-1.patch

Kernel release 2.6.24
TuxOnIce release 3.0-rc5
ACPI Custom DSDT patch release 0.8.4 with patch offset cleanups - remember to use initrd-add-dsdt to install the new ACPI DSDT on your initrd
sk98lin driver release 10.50.1.3
3ware RAID driver cleanup from -mm patchset with patch offset cleanups
Add ACPI reboot mechanism patch from -mm patchset
acpi.h cleanup patch from -mm patchset with patch offset cleanups
kbuild patch from -mm patchset with patch offset cleanups
XFS patch from -mm patchset

uvesafb no longer included as it is part of the kernel
PaX may be coming in a later 2.6.24-poggs patch once the changes TuxOnIce makes to do_mounts.c have been understood
mac80211, iwl3945 and iwlwifi drivers may also appear later when the changes in the Intel-provided snapshots have been understood

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