[patch] modpost problem when symbols move from one module to another

[patch] modpost problem when symbols move from one module to another

[Trent Piepho]

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The v4l-dvb tree recently renamed a module and this caused some problems
with modpost creating incorrect module dependencies.  This patch fixes that
problem.  It should be explained thoroughly in the patch description.

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modpost: Fix problem with out of date Module.symvers

When part of build an external module tree, modpost first reads in the
kernel's and then the external tree's Module.symvers files.  From these files
it establishes a symbol => module mapping.  When it later reads in each module
built and processes the symbols it finds, it discovers the symbol=>module
mapping from Module.symvers and leaves it as it is.

The problem comes with a module has been re-named or a symbol has moved from
one module to another, since the Module.symvers file was generated.  modpost
does not update the symbol=>module mapping when it finds the new location of
the symbol when scanning the newly built modules.  This results in the module
containing incorrect dependency information and the new Module.symvers file
written by modpost will also contain the incorrect mappings, perpetuating the
problem to the next build, and so on.

When building the out of kernel development tree for kernel subsystem, like
v4l-dvb or ALSA, deleting the external Module.symvers file before building
(which the kernel build system doesn't do and shouldn't be necessary anyway),
won't fix the problem.  modpost still reads the kernel's Module.symvers, and
since we a building a kernel subsystem, it will define the same symbols as the
external modules.

Signed-off-by: Trent Piepho <xyzzy@speakeasy.org>

diff -r 79f0ea1e0e70 scripts/mod/modpost.c
--- a/scripts/mod/modpost.c	Tue Oct 09 21:00:40 2007 +0000
+++ b/scripts/mod/modpost.c	Thu Oct 11 15:20:01 2007 -0700
@@ -268,6 +268,9 @@ static struct symbol *sym_add_exported(c
 			     "was in %s%s\n", mod->name, name,
 			     s->module->name,
 			     is_vmlinux(s->module->name) ?"":".ko");
+		} else {
+			/* In case Modules.symvers was out of date */
+			s->module = mod;
 		}
 	}
 	s->preloaded = 0;

Re: [patch] modpost problem when symbols move from one module to another

[Sam Ravnborg]

On Thu, Oct 11, 2007 at 04:40:10PM -0700, Trent Piepho wrote:
> The v4l-dvb tree recently renamed a module and this caused some problems
> with modpost creating incorrect module dependencies.  This patch fixes that
> problem.  It should be explained thoroughly in the patch description.
> modpost: Fix problem with out of date Module.symvers
> 
> When part of build an external module tree, modpost first reads in the
> kernel's and then the external tree's Module.symvers files.  From these files
> it establishes a symbol => module mapping.  When it later reads in each module
> built and processes the symbols it finds, it discovers the symbol=>module
> mapping from Module.symvers and leaves it as it is.
> 
> The problem comes with a module has been re-named or a symbol has moved from
> one module to another, since the Module.symvers file was generated.  modpost
> does not update the symbol=>module mapping when it finds the new location of
> the symbol when scanning the newly built modules.  This results in the module
> containing incorrect dependency information and the new Module.symvers file
> written by modpost will also contain the incorrect mappings, perpetuating the
> problem to the next build, and so on.
> 
> When building the out of kernel development tree for kernel subsystem, like
> v4l-dvb or ALSA, deleting the external Module.symvers file before building
> (which the kernel build system doesn't do and shouldn't be necessary anyway),
> won't fix the problem.  modpost still reads the kernel's Module.symvers, and
> since we a building a kernel subsystem, it will define the same symbols as the
> external modules.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Trent Piepho <xyzzy@speakeasy.org>

Thanks - applied,

	Sam