CentOS - Apr 2018 - Question about "generic" USB <=> Serial Port kernel drivers...

OK, I am running CentOS 6 on my Laptop and Desktop, presently kernel version
2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64 (yes, a version or so out of date -- I'll
probably
do an update soon -- non-trivial since my Internet connection is via dialup).

I recently bought a couple of Adafruit Arduino compatibles, a Flora and a
Metro 328. Hooking up the Flora and the Metro to a Raspberry Pi running
Raspbian (kernel 4.9.35-v7+), tells me that the Metro 328's USB uses a FTDI
USB serial interface (ftdi_sio.ko) and the Flora uses the cdc_acm (cdc-acm.ko)
USB serial interface. Both of these drivers are available with CentOS 6's
kernel, but since Adafruit uses their own Vendor & Product IDs and my (old)
kernel's ftdi_sio and cdc-acm drivers don't have Adafruit Vendor &
Product
IDs, the drivers don't automagically connect. The ftdi_sio has parameters
for
the Vendor & Product IDs, and specifing the product ID for the Metro 328
allows the driver to latch onto the Metro 328's USB connect and things work
(I
get a /dev/ttyUSB0 device). The cdc-acm does not have any parameters and I 
don't see any way to get it to connect.  I am pretty sure all Adafruit did
was
change the programming of the USB chip to have their Vendor & Product IDs
and
the driver should work (the FTDI one does, once the Vendor & Product IDs are
passed to it).

My question: since the cdc-acm is not parameterized, I am guessing I need to
get the kernel module source (from RH's kernel source RPM? Or maybe Elrepo
has
it?), hack in the Adafruit Vendor & Product IDs into its table of Vendor
&
Product IDs and recompile it. Is this correct? Also: is there some
"trick"
that allows me to create a kernel module that will work with kernel updates,
without having to re-compile it after every kernel update? 


-- 
Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software        -- Custom Software Services
http://www.deepsoft.com/  -- Linux Administration Services
heller at deepsoft.com       -- Webhosting Services

On 27/04/18 03:13, Robert Heller wrote:
> OK, I am running CentOS 6 on my Laptop and Desktop, presently kernel
version
> 2.6.32-696.20.1.el6.x86_64 (yes, a version or so out of date -- I'll
probably
> do an update soon -- non-trivial since my Internet connection is via
dialup).
> 
> I recently bought a couple of Adafruit Arduino compatibles, a Flora and a
> Metro 328. Hooking up the Flora and the Metro to a Raspberry Pi running
> Raspbian (kernel 4.9.35-v7+), tells me that the Metro 328's USB uses a
FTDI
> USB serial interface (ftdi_sio.ko) and the Flora uses the cdc_acm
(cdc-acm.ko)
> USB serial interface. Both of these drivers are available with CentOS
6's
> kernel, but since Adafruit uses their own Vendor & Product IDs and my
(old)
> kernel's ftdi_sio and cdc-acm drivers don't have Adafruit Vendor
& Product
> IDs, the drivers don't automagically connect. The ftdi_sio has
parameters for
> the Vendor & Product IDs, and specifing the product ID for the Metro
328
> allows the driver to latch onto the Metro 328's USB connect and things
work (I
> get a /dev/ttyUSB0 device). The cdc-acm does not have any parameters and I
> don't see any way to get it to connect.  I am pretty sure all Adafruit
did was
> change the programming of the USB chip to have their Vendor & Product
IDs and
> the driver should work (the FTDI one does, once the Vendor & Product
IDs are
> passed to it).
> 
> My question: since the cdc-acm is not parameterized, I am guessing I need
to
> get the kernel module source (from RH's kernel source RPM? Or maybe
Elrepo has
> it?), hack in the Adafruit Vendor & Product IDs into its table of
Vendor &
> Product IDs and recompile it. Is this correct? Also: is there some
"trick"
> that allows me to create a kernel module that will work with kernel
updates,
> without having to re-compile it after every kernel update?
> 
> 
Yes, that would be my starting point. If you are sure the drivers just 
need the vendor & Product device IDs, I would take the CentOS driver 
code, patch in the required device IDs and build it as a kmod package.

kmod packages on Red Hat take advantage of Red Hat's stable kernel ABI 
and as such do not need to be recompiled for each and every kernel 
update. They do _sometimes_ break if the driver uses a kernel symbol not 
on Red Hat's stable kABI whitelist AND Red Hat updates that ABI during a 
kernel update which can occasionally happen at point releases, but 
unlikely now given the age of el6. If that happens then we just need to 
rebuild the kmod against the newer kernel and we are normally good to 
go. If you wish to proceed down this route then please register and file 
an RFE at elrepo.org/bugs and we can look at this for you.

Alternatively, there is the CentOS-Plus kernel, where CentOS provide 
some patches to enhance the standard RHEL kernel offering, without 
breaking compatibility. As this is a simple patch to add device IDs, 
Akemi could add support for your devices to the CentOS-Plus kernel and 
you could switch to using the CentOS-Plus kernel and receive automatic 
updates via CentOS. If you wish to take this route you should file a bug 
against the CentOS Plus kernel on the CentOS bug tracker and Akemi will 
take care of it for you.

Please feel free to discuss further here if required.

Phil