Arch Linux

khajvah

Member

From: Yerevan, Armenia

Registered: 2012-04-23

Posts: 52

[KIND OF SOLVED]Updating everything except the kerne

Hey all,

Recently, I updated my system and it automatically updated the kernel to 3.7 (as i remember)  but the wifi adapter stopped working. In previous kernel i used the following driver and "modprobe wl" to make the wifi work: Driver. After I updated, modprobe wl didn't work, so I installed the previous kernel. I have  2 questions:
1. How can i make my wifi work?
or if it is not possible... 2. How can I update my system WITHOUT installing the new kernel?

Thanks in advance.

Last edited by khajvah (2013-01-10 15:20:03)

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 29,523

Website

Re: [KIND OF SOLVED]Updating everything except the kerne

After the update, I suspect modprobe wl didn't work because you didn't reboot after the kernel upgrade.

Best way of solving your problem: determine whether you really need wl, if not use a better driver.
Second best way: keep up to date, but reboot, and load wl.
Worst way: partial upgrades which is what you are asking for help with.

So ... if you really want to try the worst solution, you can add packages to pacman's ignore list.  But then we'll see you back here soon when something else breaks.

---

"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" -  Richard Stallman

khajvah

Member

From: Yerevan, Armenia

Registered: 2012-04-23

Posts: 52

Re: [KIND OF SOLVED]Updating everything except the kerne

Well, I did reboot few times after the update and tried to find other drivers but didn't succeed. I understand that smth will break soon, but i have no other choice. Anyway, I will try to find other solutions to make it work with the new kernel as soon as I have spare time but before that i will do partial updates as you explained.

Thanks

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: [KIND OF SOLVED]Updating everything except the kerne

The file /etc/pacman.conf has IgnorePkg and IgnoreGrp settings.  You can list the unwanted updates here.  Though keep in mind that partial updates are not supported.  Also, if you are ignoring something as crucial as the kernel, there are other packages that may depend on the updated kernel.  For instance, things like kernel modules will likely be broken, especially between version bumps like 3.6 -> 3.7. 

I think in your case though, you are trying to use a kernel module that you had to compile yourself against your kernel.  So now that you are updating from 3.6 to 3.7 you now only have a module that is built against 3.6. I think rebuilding the module against the new kernel is going to be not straight forward unless you are comfortable editing a pkgbuild (which isn't that hard btw).

Edit: nevermind, this pkgbuild relies of a prebuilt module from a debian package.  You aren't "building" anything form this package.  Sorry dude...

Last edited by WonderWoofy (2013-01-10 15:52:16)