Issues with PREFERRED_VERSION/PREFERRED_PROVIDER for the kernel

1. If you define something in the <MACHINE>.conf and in <DISTRO>.conf then <DISTRO>.conf has higher priority.
This is really non-intuitive.

2. If you define a PREFERRED_VERSION which does not have a corresponding ".bb" file you do not get a warning, and the latest PREFERRED_PROVIDER is used.

3. If you define a PREFERRED_PROVIDER which does not have a corresponding ".bb" file you *do* get a warning, with a list of possible providers, and
bitbake will bake the
first in the list.
It will also bake the *latest* version, even if that provider has a
PREFERRED_VERSION.

4. If I define PREFERRED_PROVIDER_virtual/kernel = "linux-x" in <machine>.conf, bitbake will bake "linux-x" using the latest version

5. If I define PREFERRED_VERSION_virtual/kernel = "3.7.0", this is ignored.

6. If I define PREFERRED_VERSION_linux-x = "3.7.0", this is accepted and linux-x_3.7.0.bb is used.

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Questions:
You need to parse <machine>.conf before you parse the DISTRO since some things in the distro is machine dependent.

I.E: PREFERRED_VERSION_binutils_avr32 = "2.17"

(1) Would it be possible to reparse <machine>.conf
after DISTRO has been parsed, resetting some stuff, overridden by
the DISTRO?

(2) Why no warning, if the PREFERRED_VERSION cannot be found. It would be good to have which versions are available.

For the Beaglebone, you have a linux-mainline_3.7.bb, but if you set

PREFERRED_VERSION_linux-mainline = "3.7"

you still get "3.8.13" built, because "linux-mainline_3.7.bb"
contains PV = "3.7.0"

A warning would have been helpful!

(3) Why is PREFERRED_VERSION_virtual/kernel accepted without error message, but ignored?

(4) If bitbake cannot find a recommended PROVIDER, and selects something else, why not use the PREFERRED_VERSION if it exists?

BR
Ulf Samuelsson

Op 18 okt. 2013, om 17:59 heeft Ulf Samuelsson <[email protected]> het volgende geschreven:

It is correct however, if the DISTRO defines it, it's a DISTRO setting that a MACHINE.conf really should stay away from.

regards,

KOen

In some cases, you might want to override a few things in the DISTRO.

Maybe an easy way to handle this would be if the DISTRO conf file included an empty file at the end,
which can be overridden by a file in your own layer.

Best Regards
Ulf Samuelsson

18 okt 2013 kl. 18:31 skrev Koen Kooi <[email protected]>:

If the distro wants to be able to be overridden, it should use ?= or ??= as appropriate.

Christopher Larson