How can identify the exact version of kernel used for my NanoPC-T4 image?

[jakubgs]

I'm trying to run NixOS on my NanoPC-T4, and it's having trouble detecting the NVMe drive connected to the M.2 port.

I've tried running Armbian, specifically Armbian_21.02.1_Nanopct4_focal_current_5.10.12.img downloaded from here, and it appears to detect it just fine.

 

On NixOS I'm running a stock 5.10.13 kernel, which is newer than the 5.10.12 that Armbian is using.

I'm assuming that I'm missing some kind of specific patch that makes this work on Armbian.

 

I examined the kernel I was running on Armbian:
 

qwe@nanopct4:~$ ls -l /boot/ | grep rockchip
total 63872
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   221399 Feb  3 19:55 config-5.10.12-rockchip64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root       22 Feb  4 12:11 dtb -> dtb-5.10.12-rockchip64
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root     4096 Feb  4 12:11 dtb-5.10.12-rockchip64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root       26 Feb  4 12:10 Image -> vmlinuz-5.10.12-rockchip64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15339843 Feb  4 12:14 initrd.img-5.10.12-rockchip64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  5835612 Feb  3 19:55 System.map-5.10.12-rockchip64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root       26 Feb  4 12:14 uInitrd -> uInitrd-5.10.12-rockchip64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 15339907 Feb  4 12:14 uInitrd-5.10.12-rockchip64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 28582400 Feb  3 19:55 vmlinuz-5.10.12-rockchip64

 

And it appears to be be coming from a linux-image-current-rockchip64/now package:

 

qwe@nanopct4:/boot$ sudo apt list | grep current-rockchip64
linux-dtb-current-rockchip64/now 21.02.1 arm64 [installed,local]
linux-headers-current-rockchip64/focal 20.11.4 arm64
linux-image-current-rockchip64/now 21.02.1 arm64 [installed,local]

 

I'm trying to identify what source was used to build this image, but there is no linux-source package.

 

I looked at the repo: https://github.com/armbian/build

And I found this: https://github.com/armbian/build/blob/a1e96e68d864ddc2fef169f3f503a9493311313b/config/sources/families/rockchip64.conf

 

But it seems to only reference kernel version 4.4.202 from https://github.com/ayufan-rock64/linux-kernel which looks wrong.

 

Can someone please help me figure out what kernel source was used to build the image?

Ideally I'd find the exact patch that fixes the NVMe drive and apply just that, but I'd settle for building the whole thing if it works.

Edited February 9, 2021 by jakubgs

[NicoD]

I don't have a T4, so I'm not aware of hardware support on it. But this topic might give some info. 

So it might work using an older kernel. You could also use the legacy kernel 4.4 if it works for your use case. I use it on my RK3399's with NVMe.

[tparys]

I may be missing something here, but can't you just ask the the running kernel what version it is?

 

$ uname -r

 

 

[Igor]

3 hours ago, jakubgs said:

On NixOS I'm running a stock 5.10.13 kernel, which is newer than the 5.10.12 that Armbian is using.

 

https://docs.armbian.com/#what-is-the-difference-between-armbian-and-debianubuntu

[jakubgs]

@NicoD I think all three of you misunderstood me. I want to identify the exact repository and commit from which the Armbian kernel was built in order to get the same fixes on NixOS.

@tparys The version alone - like 5.10.12 - is useless by itself and does not contain the necessary information to find the exact source code needed.

@Igor Not sure what you're trying to say. I need the commit and repo from which the kernel was built.

 

I found this:

https://github.com/armbian/build/blob/e107f37475af8854259aab9a8df446d15ebcde7a/config/sources/arm64.conf#L25

 

Which appears to show that the default value for KERNELSOURCE is MAINLINE_KERNEL_SOURCE, which appears to be set here:

https://github.com/armbian/build/blob/705bbd431bd2f3751c74a8a84eb4d4a4cb3a09e8/lib/configuration.sh#L65-L67

 

Which appears to default to linux-stable:

https://kernel.googlesource.com/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable

 

I also found out that the value of KERNELPATCHDIR found here:

https://github.com/armbian/build/blob/a1e96e68d864ddc2fef169f3f503a9493311313b/config/sources/families/rockchip64.conf#L11

 

Seems to indicate this folder contains the patches that were applied to the kernel:

https://github.com/armbian/build/tree/804c57dd5925e67383a3d82c85f18868a6173d4b/patch/kernel/rockchip64-dev

 

So currently I'm trying to build the 5.10.x kernel used by NixOS with all the patches that mention rk3399 in the name. We'll see what that does.

[Igor]

26 minutes ago, jakubgs said:

Not sure what you're trying to say.

 

Just giving you some facts about Armbian. Also this one:
https://github.com/armbian/build#compare-with-industry-standards

We don't support porting of our work to 3rd party Linux distributions, but you are ofc welcome to do that on your time and make use of any code that is available. We simply can't afford to guide you. Code and its maintaining also does not appear from a thin air.

[jakubgs]

>Code and its maintaining also does not appear from a thin air.

 

Wait, it doesn't?

[Werner]

Free software is not free. It never was. Somebody always has to pay the electrical bill

 

[jakubgs]

But it says "free" in the name. I feel cheated. I demand a refund!