Preparing for FreeBSD 15.1 release

[Matthew45]

Just a quick questions: Do i need Nvidia drivers reinstalled when 15.1 .2 .3 comes out, or it must be done only for a full release upgrade? If yes what command i must run? I rather ask here then look for some random examples.. I would appreciate if someone who uses Nvidia card or anyone who knows exact commands how to remove nvidia drivers before major upgrade, and install them again after upgrade, avoiding black boot screen (crucial). The key thing why i am asking this is the drm kmod, which can change upon major upgrade release..

 

[SirDice]

Do i need Nvidia drivers reinstalled when 15.1 .2 .3 comes out

Maybe, maybe not. The original NVidia drivers are usually not affected, but the DRM NVidia drivers can be. And this is exactly what the FreeBSD-ports-kmods repository is intended for.

it must be done only for a full release upgrade?

With a major version upgrade everything must always be reinstalled.

before major upgrade

Not a major upgrade, 15.0 -> 15.1 is a minor version upgrade. And with every upgrade I would recommend disabling everything that's not strictly necessary to boot (and perhaps remotely manage) the machine. So things don't get in the way during the upgrade.

 

[Matthew45]

Ok so i use same upgrade procedure as for major releases just instead 15.0 i insert 15.1..ok then i do reinstall of nvidia drivers along with drm kmods all together before rebooting into new release. I wrote all together cause it cant hurt, maybe newer version of drivers will be out.. Logically it would be to reinstall only drm kmod and leave nvidia drivers alone, but ill do complete reinstall Thnx for clarifying.!!!

 

[SirDice]

The only thing to watch out for when 15.1 is released, the package repository would still be built for 15.0. Packages get built for 15.1 when 15.0 is really EoL three months later. This is where the new FreeBSD{-ports}-kmods repositories come in. They are specifically intended for this transition period. Most packages built for 15.0 will work fine on 15.1 (ABI stability), but kernel modules are often finicky about the version change. Kernel modules built for X.N might fail to load or even crash on X.N+1.

 

[Matthew45]

The only thing to watch out for when 15.1 is released, the package repository would still be built for 15.0. Packages get built for 15.1 when 15.0 is really EoL three months later. This is where the new FreeBSD{-ports}-kmods repositories come in. They are specifically intended for this transition period. Most packages built for 15.0 will work fine on 15.1 (ABI stability), but kernel modules are often finicky about the version change. Kernel modules built for X.N might fail to load or even crash on X.N+1.

ok i will rebuild all packages as well..thanks!

 

[mer]

What SirDice says in #4 is important. Things being built as packages are built against lowest common denominator until that is truly retired.

 

[Matthew45]

Nice to know that..So i figured 1.remove nvidia drivers+kmod, 2. Upgrade to new release 3. rebuild packages and install nvidia drivers+kmod once i boot into upgraded system. Also wanted to point out that i donated to FreeBSD And moment i donated forum went down, i hope payment went through..

 

[Emrion]

Be aware that this kmod thing not only concerns graphics but all third-party kernel modules like virtualbox-ose-kmod or realtek-re-kmod. It's a good idea to disable all these kmod before upgrade. Look well into /etc/rc.conf but also in /boot/loader.conf.

 

[SirDice]

1.remove nvidia drivers+kmod

No need to entirely remove them, they are listed in kld_list in rc.conf, just remark that line so the modules aren't automatically loaded. Also disable SDDM, LightDM, SLiM or any of the other display managers you might have enabled. Do the upgrade from the console.

 

[T-Aoki]

x11/nvidia-driver{-304|-340|-390|-470|-580|-devel} doesn't include kernel modules. So these basically doesn't needed to be rebuilt for minor upgrades, if the PORTVERSION (DISTVERSION) matches.

On the other hand, x11/nvidia-kmod{-304|-340|-390|-470|-580|-devel} are kernel module only (formerly included in corresponding x11/nvidia-driver* but currently splitted out to allow kmod builders to build them).

These (built) kmod ports depends on KBI for kernel modules, but not so strongly depend on kernel internals. So in "many" (not all) cases, pkgs built on X.N works on X.(N+1).

But for graphics/nvidia-drm-{510|515|61|66|latest}-kmod{-580|-devel}, things are quite different.

These uses part of codes from graphics/drm-{510|515|61|66|latest}-kmod and mandatorily depends upon LinuxKPI.

And unfortunately, KBI of LinuxKPI changes quite frequently without sufficient backward compatibilities (Linux-ism). So building on EXACTLY THE SAME SOURCE CODE AS RUNNING KERNEL SHOULD BE CONSIDERED MANDATORY for ALL consumers of LinuxKPI.

 

[Matthew45]

Ok guys, thanks for a detailed explanation.., as i am using FreeBSD for the first time i just wanted to make sure i dont mess something up..and see how things work on this system. Graphics drivers are always sensitive topic particularly with nvidia..