[elrepo] Anyway to install kmod-ath9k_htc without it forcing a kernel update?

[Phil Perry]

On 01/07/14 03:46, Michael B wrote:
> Hi ElRepo,
> 
> Well, I'm confused.  http://elrepo.org/tiki/kmod-ath9k_htc says:
> 
> "This package provides the ath9k_htc kernel module for the Atheros 
> AR7010/AR9271 series USB wireless network adapters.  It is built to depend 
> upon the specific ABI provided by a range of releases of the same variant of 
> the Linux kernel and not on any one specific build."
> 
> Yet it is trying to force me to update my kernel within CentOS 6.x ...
> 
> Am I doing some­thing wrong?  (The firmware installed fine.)  Should I just 
> shove it in with a --skip-broken?  Is there an older package available for 
> older kernels? (although I thought not having to do that was the whole point 
> of using a kmod?)  Is there another repo for Atheros AR9271 USB pre- 
> kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.32-431 somewhere?
> 
> How does one get an Atheros AR9271 802.11n working on CentOS 6.3?
> 
> Details below.
> 
> Thanks,
> Michael
> 
> Details (w/ snipping of clutter):
> 
> michael at localhost [~]$ lsusb
> Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
> Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0cf3:9271 Atheros Communications, Inc. AR9271 802.11n
> 
> michael at localhost [~]$ cat /etc/redhat-release && uname -a
> CentOS release 6.3 (Final)
> Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.32-279.1.1.el6.x86_64 #1 SMP Tue Jul 10 
> 13:47:21 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
> 
> # # #
> 
> After a plain "yum install kmod-ath9k_htc" wanted to force an update to 
> kernel.x86_64 0:2.6.32-431.20.3.el6, I tried this.  Same errors (less 
> verbose):
> 
> root at localhost [~]$ yum --disablerepo="*" --enablerepo=elrepo install 
> kmod-ath9k_htc
> {snip}
> Error: Package: kmod-ath9k_htc-0.0-4.el6.elrepo.x86_64 (elrepo)
>            Requires: kernel(ath_printk) = 0xd1f2f4e7
>            Installed: kernel-2.6.32-279.1.1.el6.x86_64 (@updates)
>                kernel(ath_printk) = 0x900d9db9
> {snip}
> Error: Package: kmod-ath9k_htc-0.0-4.el6.elrepo.x86_64 (elrepo)
>            Requires: kernel(ieee80211_queue_work) = 0xbd9db48f
>            Installed: kernel-2.6.32-220.el6.x86_64 
> (@anaconda-CentOS-201112091719.x86_64/6.2)
>                kernel(ieee80211_queue_work) = 0x7c7c57fa
>            Installed: kernel-2.6.32-220.13.1.el6.x86_64 (@updates)
>                kernel(ieee80211_queue_work) = 0x7c7c57fa
>            Installed: kernel-2.6.32-220.17.1.el6.x86_64 (@updates)
>                kernel(ieee80211_queue_work) = 0x7c7c57fa
>            Installed: kernel-2.6.32-279.1.1.el6.x86_64 (@updates)
>                kernel(ieee80211_queue_work) = 0x3507d36b
> Error: Package: kmod-ath9k_htc-0.0-4.el6.elrepo.x86_64 (elrepo)
>            Requires: kernel(ath9k_hw_ani_monitor) = 0x6746faf8
>            Installed: kernel-2.6.32-279.1.1.el6.x86_64 (@updates)
>                kernel(ath9k_hw_ani_monitor) = 0xb06d271e
>  You could try using --skip-broken to work around the problem
>  You could try running: rpm -Va --nofiles -nodigest
> 
> 
> Other Reference:
> 
> michael at localhost [~]$ yum info ath9k_htc-firmware
> {snip}
> Installed Packages
> Name        : ath9k_htc-firmware
> Arch        : noarch
> Version     : 1.3
> Release     : 1.el6.elrepo
> Size        : 121 k
> Repo        : installed
>>From repo   : elrepo
> Summary     : Firmware for Atheros AR7010/AR9271 series USB wireless network 
> adapters
> URL         : http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k_htc
> License     : Redistributable, no modification permitted
> Description : This package provides the firmware required for Atheros 
> AR7010/AR9271
>             : series USB wireless network adapters using the ath9k_htc driver.
> 
> michael at localhost [~]$ ll /lib/firmware/ht*
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 72992 May 12  2012 /lib/firmware/htc_7010.fw
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 51272 May 12  2012 /lib/firmware/htc_9271.fw

Hi Michael,

The current kmod-ath9k_htc package requires a minimum of
kernel-2.6.32-358.el6 from the 6.4 release. We are unable to support
this driver on older unsupported kernels.

You will need to update your system if you wish to use this driver.

In answer to your questions, no you are not doing anything wrong. In
most cases our packages will work across all Enterprise Linux kernel
releases, but in some cases the drivers use symbols that are not
whitelisted in the upstream kernel and these kernel symbols can change
between releases. If a driver uses such kernel symbols and these symbols
change between kernel releases (as in this case), then the driver will
not be backward compatible with older kernels from before the change.
Hence in this case this driver is currently compatible only with kernels
>=  kernel-2.6.32-358.el6 (el6.4 onwards). Yum identified a newer kernel
was required and tried to pull in the latest kernel as this meets the
requirements of the package.

I'm wondering why you are unwilling/unable to update your system and are
still running a kernel (and probably lots of other stuff?) that is 16
months old and full of security vulnerabilities. Besides the obvious
security benefits, you'd also get a working driver for your hardware :-)

Regards,

Phil