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BFE EngineeringandClaude Fable 5 5155224594 public-readiness: scrub internal details, split licensing, hosted kernel-build

Preparing the repo to go public (ADR-0007):

- CI: kernel-build moves from the self-hosted runner to ubuntu-latest
  (installs its own cross toolchain + qemu, caches the pristine tarball).
  On a public repo a registered self-hosted runner is reachable from
  approved fork-PR workflows — i.e. arbitrary code on private
  infrastructure — and the build never actually needed the SDK host.
  ADR-0004 marked superseded-in-part; docs/ci-cd.md rewritten (site
  specifics now live only in the private deployment log).
- Licensing: LICENSE gains the GPL-2.0 carve-out for patches/ and the
  kernel source excerpts (Linux derivatives; per-driver provenance was
  already tracked in PROVENANCE.md); patches/README.md states it too.
- Scrubbed from the tip: bench-unit dev credentials and its gadget IP
  (m2-boot notes), the site AP SSID+BSSID and a neighboring AP's BSSID
  and the device WLAN MAC (wifi bring-up evidence — BSSIDs are
  geolocatable), the runner mesh IP. NOTE: these remain in git history;
  decision on a pre-publication history rewrite is separate.
- Emoji cleanup across 21 tracked files (kernel port docs, review report,
  enforce-mcdc.sh) per repo text conventions: status marks became
  [x]/[wip]/[ ]/OK plain text.
- "[maintainer]-gated" process phrasing normalized to "maintainer-gated"
  (attributions in dated evidence docs kept).

Verified: zero emojis tracked; scrub grep clean; patches carry no internal
references; ci.yml parses; shellcheck unchanged.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_018HUayid7W5w7jBdb9Rrj1K

2026-08-30 07:25:57 -06:00

2.7 KiB

Raw Blame History

AIC8800 wifi — VERIFIED on warden-c8a3 (self-built 6.18.46), 2026-08-25

Result: wifi works end-to-end on our self-built Linux 6.18.46. Modules built from the ported source (vermagic 6.18.46 SMP mod_unload ARMv7 p2v8), loaded on the panel, downloaded firmware to the AIC8800DC, created wlan0, and completed a live RF scan.

Evidence (serial console, _b slot = our 6.18 kernel)

insmod aic8800_bsp.ko → firmware download OK: aicwf_patch_config_8800dc done, Start app: 00120000, BSP_RC=0.
insmod aic8800_fdrv.ko → ieee80211 phy0: HT supp 1, VHT supp 1, HE supp 1, FDRV_RC=0.
wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> ... link/ether <device MAC>
iw dev wlan0 scan found real APs (SSIDs/BSSIDs redacted for publication):
- the site AP at 2412 MHz, −43 dBm
- a neighboring guest AP at 2412 MHz, −73 dBm
- +several more, correct signal strengths → RF path fully functional.

Why MODULES, not built-in (=y)

Built-in device_initcalls run BEFORE the dw_mmc/SDIO controller probes. Initcalls are sequential: aicbsp_init blocked 3.3–7.5 s doing the eager chip bring-up, and the mmc controller only probed at 7.9 s (SDIO card at 8.2 s) — AFTER aicbsp had already given up (aicsdio.c:597 2 s down_timeout → sdio_unregister_driver). Extending the timeout can't help (aicbsp blocks the very mmc probe that would enumerate the card — a deadlock). Loaded as modules AFTER boot (mmc up, card at 4 s), insmod aic8800_bsp registers the SDIO driver against an already-present card → probe fires immediately → firmware download → fdrv → wlan0. This is the vendor-proven flow.

Kernel-size fix (needed to boot the wifi kernel at all)

The wifi kernel grew the gzip zImage to 12.12 MB; rockchip U-Boot loads the kernel blob at 0x8000 and relocates the DTB to 0xc00000 (12 MB), so a >~11.95 MB zImage overruns the FDT at U-Boot load time (Sysmem Error: KERNEL overlap with FDT) and FLARE-AB falls back to _a. Switched CONFIG_KERNEL_GZIP → CONFIG_KERNEL_XZ: zImage 12.12 MB → 8.15 MB (module build), ~4 MB headroom under the FDT. Also the right call for a firmware kernel. (Uncompressed Image is ~30 MB; the ARM decompressor relocates the FDT at runtime, so only the U-Boot LOAD-time overlap mattered — proven by the kernel booting once the zImage fit.)

Boot-time auto-load (follow-up, deployment layer — not the kernel port)

Modules were insmod'd manually for this verify. Production auto-load needs a loader that inserts aic8800_bsp.ko → aic8800_fdrv.ko (→ aic8800_btlpm.ko) in order from wherever they're staged; the vendor insmod_wifi.sh references a different variant (aic_load_fw.ko/bcmdhd.ko, absent here). Track in the rootfs.

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