[Lucid-LBM] SRU: Add backported qcserial driver [Maverick-RFC]

[Stefan Bader]

On 08/02/2010 04:05 PM, Tim Gardner wrote:
> On 08/02/2010 07:33 AM, Stefan Bader wrote:
>> On 08/02/2010 03:27 PM, Tim Gardner wrote:
>>> On 07/31/2010 04:37 AM, Stefan Bader wrote:
>>>> SRU justification:
>>>>
>>>> Impact: Certain models of 3G hardware (Gobi) which apparently are quite
>>>> common, require several changes to work. First, the kernel module needs
>>>> to be updated, which requires larger modifications. Second, a new firm-
>>>> ware loader is required together with a matching udev rule.
>>>>
>>>> Fix: In order to prevent regressions, the driver backport was done in
>>>> LBM and also adds a new binary subpackage (lbm-wwan). This package also
>>>> contains the loader and the udev rule.
>>>> NOTE! The drivers also requires firmware files which need to be
>>>> manually
>>>> gathered as they are not redistributable.
>>>>
>>>> Testcase: Without this backport no 3G connections are possible. Sevral
>>>> users in the bug report had successfully used the driver from the test
>>>> package after collecting the required firmware files.
>>>>
>>>> RFC Maverick:
>>>> The kernel parts are already in Maverick. But the firmware loader
>>>> and the
>>>> udev rule would need to get packaged somewhere. I am not sure this
>>>> still
>>>> can be done in time, so maybe the userspace part would need to go into
>>>> Maverick's LBM. Though it sounds a bit unclean.
>>>> For future releases it would be valuable to evaluate whether the
>>>> firmware
>>>> might be acquired semi-automatically via fw-cutter.
>>>>
>>>> -Stefan
>>>>
>>>>   From f8de5aa33acc82fd77ac79e734f59f59b540f677 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00
>>>> 2001
>>>> From: Stefan Bader<stefan.bader at canonical.com>
>>>> Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:40:57 +0200
>>>> Subject: [PATCH] UBUNTU: Add WWAN sub-package and backported qcserial
>>>>
>>>> BugLink: http://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/554099
>>>>
>>>> This adds a new sub-package which is intended to hold backported WWAN
>>>> (wireless wide area network) modules. The start is made by a backported
>>>> version of the qcserial driver.
>>>>
>>>> Signed-off-by: Stefan Bader<stefan.bader at canonical.com>
>>>> ---
>>>
>>> Acked-by: Tim Gardner<tim.gardner at canonical.com>  for Lucid
>>>
>>> If there are no kernel components for Maverick, then perhaps the loader
>>> and udev rule should just be a Universe package. Are you thinking about
>>> doing it?
>>>
>>> rtg
>>
>> Not yet really. I first wanted to see what options there would be.
>> Would things
>> like that fit into the linux-firmware package? Or is that restricted
>> to only fw
>> bits themselves?
>> Is there still time to come up with a new package for Maverick? When
>> the general
>> opinion is to have a universe package (e.g. gobi-loader) I can do that.
>>
>> -Stefan
> 
> Currently linux-firmware is just the firmware bits. Given the
> non-redistributable nature of the Gobi firmware bits, I would not
> advocate adding loader and udev support to a package that is composed
> entirely of redistributable firmware.
> 
> For Maverick I think a universe package is the way to go. There is still
> about a week left to add a new package (before it gets really painful to
> do so).
> 
> rtg

I tried to come up with a packaging which can be checked at

git://kernel.ubuntu.com/smb/gobi-loader.git debian

Though I am not confident this is complete, yet. Somehow I have no clue how to
target it for universe. Whoever has time, some review and feedback would be
appreciated.

-Stefan