[Commotion-dev] Do please give these Commotion-OpenWRT images with newer kernel and radio drivers a try!

[Ben West]

Hi All,

I've been busy trying out backports to the current Commotion-OpenWRT
codebase to incorporate the newer v3.3.8 kernel on all platforms (ar71xx,
atheros, and x86), along with updated radio drivers from
compat-wireless-2012-09-07.  These backports were adapted from the current
'Atttitude Adjustment v12.09' branch of OpenWRT, and they would have been
near impossible to create without help from VirtualBox/VMware.

It is expected that the newer kernel, and especially the newer radio
drivers, will yield noticeable speed and stability improvements!

Here are the branches in the Commotion git repo, where I had been
collecting the various patches needed to apply these backports.  If you
wish to build images from these repos, you will likely need to do a 'make
dirclean' to clear out old binaries!

https://code.commotionwireless.net/projects/commotion-openwrt/repository/show?rev=ath9k_new
https://code.commotionwireless.net/projects/commotion-openwrt/repository/show?rev=ath5kMinimal_new
https://code.commotionwireless.net/projects/commotion-openwrt/repository/show?rev=x86_new

Next, here are pre-compiled image that I made today.  The default root
password on these images is r0ot56c0MM0t10N , but you should also be able
to use the sysupgrade tool to re-flash your nodes in-place, and preserve
their existing configuration.

http://info.gowasabi.net/commotion-openwrt-new/
http://info.gowasabi.net/commotion-openwrt-new/openwrt/bin/ar71xx/
http://info.gowasabi.net/commotion-openwrt-new/openwrt/bin/atheros/
http://info.gowasabi.net/commotion-openwrt-new/openwrt/bin/atheros-ar2315-minimal/
http://info.gowasabi.net/commotion-openwrt-new/openwrt/bin/x86/

I've tried my best to verify these images work on my end, and that they can
be drop-in replacements for the current version of Commotion.  However, I
would still recommend first flashing a node where you have access to its
reset button, just in case.

The 'minimal' images referred to above are my best attempt to compile for
low-memory devices like a FONera.  *However*, do be warned that OpenWRT
devs insist the v3.3+ kernel will *not* run reliably under 16MB of RAM.
Indeed my own attempt at flashing a FONera just yielded kernel errors from
insufficient memory.  It may finally be time to put those FONeras and
pre-802.11n Nanostations out to pasture.

The purpose of making these images is to let the Commotion community at
large benefit from kernel and radio driver improvements right now, while
giving the firmware developers time to upgrade Commotion-OpenWRT itself to
support the new netifd API in OpenWRT v12.09.

Finally, and w.r.t. to stability improvements, I would recommend trying the
new images for these support requests that were filed over the past few
months.

https://code.commotionwireless.net/issues/330
https://code.commotionwireless.net/issues/342
https://code.commotionwireless.net/issues/403

Ideally, if everyone's testing goes well, these backports can be merged
into the master Commotion-OpenWRT branch!

-- 
Ben West
http://gowasabi.net
ben at gowasabi.net
314-246-9434
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