is kernel 4.14 too old?

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is kernel 4.14 too old?

Postby rezad » Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:15 am

I have archlinux-arm installed on on my odroid xu4.
recently I have changed my hdd drive filesystem from ext4 to btrfs.
when I see linux updates news on website they are talking about btrfs support in kernel and how new versions fix issues with it.
the archlinux-arm kernel version is linux-odroid-xu3 4.14.180-3.
should I change from archlinux to maybe ubuntu?
I think ubuntu is officially supported for this device. and as far as I checked its kernel is version 5.

some info if needed for the answer:
I personally use archlinux on laptop so having the same on xu4 is easier for me.
aur system on archlinux is very easy for me to use on this system. I dont know if ubuntu have something like that. last time I used ubutnu it had ppa repos.
I dont care about gpu stuff on this device and I use it remotely with no gui stuff installed. so kodi and so on are not important for me if they are supported or not.
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Re: is kernel 4.14 too old?

Postby moonman » Sat Jan 15, 2022 9:06 pm

linux-odroid-xu3 uses the official sourcecode from hardkernel that's why it's stuck on 4.14 - hardkernel hasn't released anything newer.
You can use mainline multidevice kernel linux-armv7 which is at version 5.11 right now.

You can try unofficial 5.15 if you want viewtopic.php?f=23&t=15714&p=68585#p68585
Both work fine on my xu4.
Pogoplug V4 | GoFlex Home | Raspberry Pi 4 4GB | CuBox-i4 Pro | ClearFog | BeagleBone Black | Odroid U2 | Odroid C1 | Odroid XU4
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Re: is kernel 4.14 too old?

Postby karog » Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:01 pm

I have been running linux-armv7 on my xu4 for a couple of months now. There appears to be no fan support. I attached a 60mm 5v fan externally to the case and wired it to a USB connector plugged into the USB 2 port on the xu4. Also added a 1K potentiometer so I could adjust the fan speed. It runs all of the time but is not too loud and seems to keep things cool enough.

I run root off of an USB 3.0 SSD. One problem I have had since the switch is that sporadically the root file system become read-only which then does nothing but spew errors out the serial port. A reboot is enough to restore things. I have no idea why this is happening. By sporadic, I mean that it may takes several days or it may take only 30 minutes. Mostly it is days. Seems like lots of file system activity may be related.
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Re: is kernel 4.14 too old?

Postby moonman » Sun Jan 16, 2022 1:21 am

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('karog', 'I') have been running linux-armv7 on my xu4 for a couple of months now. There appears to be no fan support. I attached a 60mm 5v fan externally to the case and wired it to a USB connector plugged into the USB 2 port on the xu4. Also added a 1K potentiometer so I could adjust the fan speed. It runs all of the time but is not too loud and seems to keep things cool enough.

I run root off of an USB 3.0 SSD. One problem I have had since the switch is that sporadically the root file system become read-only which then does nothing but spew errors out the serial port. A reboot is enough to restore things. I have no idea why this is happening. By sporadic, I mean that it may takes several days or it may take only 30 minutes. Mostly it is days. Seems like lots of file system activity may be related.


Interesting. Thanks for the info.
I have a passive heatsink (not one provided by hardkernel) so I never thought about the fan control. I also have rootfs on a USB drive, but have no such issues. The USB3 ports are toast on mine, so I'm using USB2 port with 7200rpm 2.5" external drive and it seems to work fine. Usually filesystem gets remounted ro only if it encounters an error. Is there anything useful in the kernel log? Maybe your drive needs to have uasp disabled?
Pogoplug V4 | GoFlex Home | Raspberry Pi 4 4GB | CuBox-i4 Pro | ClearFog | BeagleBone Black | Odroid U2 | Odroid C1 | Odroid XU4
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Re: is kernel 4.14 too old?

Postby rezad » Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:41 pm

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')hanks.
I was afraid to try the general armv7 kernel.
it is not easy like a pc, if I want to restore borked updates, so your assurance helped me and I installed it and it seems to work.

is it safe to stay on this package? it would work for xu4 for ever?


It is safe to stay on this kernel, yes. It should work forever, yes, with a caveat that this a bleeding edge distro and breakage does happen once in a while (just like with ArchLinux on x86), albeit it's very rare with kernels. It is a mainline kernel (i.e. not from the vendor of the SBC, but from kernel.org). Ubuntu and other distros probably use mainline kernel as well, but since they are not bleeding edge they can hold package versions back as to not introduce any less tested features from upstream that can cause breakage.
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