Hi all, Proposed text for the release notes attached.
On 11-06-2021 21:47, Ben Hutchings wrote: > On Sat, 2021-06-12 at 03:01 +0900, Roger Shimizu wrote: >> On Fri, Jun 11, 2021 at 1:22 PM Salvatore Bonaccorso <car...@debian.org> >> wrote: >>> On Thu, Jun 10, 2021 at 11:32:23AM +0200, Paul Gevers wrote: >>>> On 24-05-2021 06:55, Paul Gevers wrote: >>>>> I happen to own a QNAP (armel) and I spotted in the changelog that it's >>>>> not going to be supported in bullseye. I was wondering, is that >>>>> something that should be mentioned in the release notes? Obviously I >>>>> don't mean because I own it, but I'm betting that support for particular >>>>> hardware pieces has been dropped in the past too. I don't recall >>>>> something like that in the buster release notes, but even if we didn't >>>>> do it in the past, now could be a good moment to start if we think we >>>>> should add it. >> >> for armel, the limitation is by: >> https://salsa.debian.org/kernel-team/linux/-/blob/master/debian/config/armel/defines#L35 >> >> And from the list in that file, below devices are not supported now. >> # QNAP TS-119/TS-219: 2097152 - 64 = 2097088 >> # D-Link DNS-323: 1572864 - 8 - 64 = 1572792 (too small, no longer supported) >> # HP Media Vault mv2120: 2097152 - 8 - 64 = 2097080 >> # QNAP TS-109/TS-209 & TS-409: 2097152 - 8 - 64 = 2097080 >> >> I guess support for D-Link DNS-323 was dropped since buster, or earlier. > > Yes, since stretch. > >> >>>>> Either way, I was wondering what would happen if I try to upgrade such a >>>>> device. I'm *assuming* that the linux package would detect that the >>>>> image is too big, but what would that leave me? A fully upgraded system >>>>> with an old kernel, or is there any detection before any upgrade >>>>> happens? For owners of such devices, is their only option to stay at >>>>> buster? E.g. is there any chance in building a smaller custom kernel >>>>> with less options enabled or is that impossible because nearly >>>>> everything is build as module? >> >> The upgrade of kernel may succeed if /boot still have enough space, >> but reboot will fail because of the uboot configuration hard coded in >> those hardware. > [...] > > My understanding is that these devices load the kernel and initramfs > from fixed partitions on the on-board flash, not from the filesystem. > That's why the limits vary. flash-kernel is responsible for copying > the kernel and initramfs to these partitions. When the kernel is too> > Ben. > > large, it will report an error, which should abort the package > installation. > > To avoid this, users should keep the buster sources enabled and, before > upgrading, add an APT preferences file containing something like: > > Package: linux-image-marvell > Pin: release a=buster > Pin-Priority: 900 > > (not tested). Obviously this will only work as long as buster is > supported. As I own one of the unsupported devices, I intend to check if this works as intended and I'll not push the change until confirmed. If I'm really brave, I'll even check that flash-kernel errors out in the right way. Paul
From a58174c17ad3b6cdb19f4e908428f0b0e8bf53c3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Gevers <elb...@debian.org>
Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2021 21:30:33 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] issues.dbk: unsupported armel hardware
---
en/issues.dbk | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 34 insertions(+)
diff --git a/en/issues.dbk b/en/issues.dbk
index 805a15be..01184f9a 100644
--- a/en/issues.dbk
+++ b/en/issues.dbk
@@ -775,5 +775,39 @@ Environment=SYSTEMD_SULOGIN_FORCE=1
</itemizedlist>
</section>
+ <section id="no-longer-supported-hardware">
+ <title>Hardware that's no longer supported</title>
+ <para>
+ Due to hardware limitations, it's no longer viable for Debian
+ to build the <literal>Linux</literal> kernel supporting a
+ number of armel based devices that were supported in
+ buster. The unsupported devices are:
+ </para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ QNAP TS-109/TS-209, TS-119/TS-219 and TS-409
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ HP Media Vault mv2120
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ <para>
+ Users of those platforms that wish to upgrade to bullseye
+ nevertheless should keep the buster APT sources enabled and,
+ before upgrading, add an APT preferences file containing
+ something like:
+ <programlisting>
+Package: linux-image-marvell
+Pin: release a=buster
+Pin-Priority: 900
+ </programlisting>
+ Obviously, the security support for this configuration will
+ end with the End Of Life of buster.
+ </para>
+ </section>
</section>
</chapter>
--
2.30.2
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