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This document is the general process to test new releases of major Kernel upgrades to Slackware ARM, and testing of the AiO Installer images.
Slackware ARM Installer & Major Kernel Update: Testing Process
| Hardware Model | Initial Kernel major version upgrade (e.g. 6.18.10 → 7.2.7) | Kernel minor upgrade (e.g. 7.2.7 → 7.2.8) | Reinstall from Bare installer | Reinstall from AiO | Reinstall from AiO - Transition to vendor fork Kernel | Non-SD boot test | Graphical test | Network test | Stability test (3-4 days) | 3rd party Kernel test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi 4 | ||||||||||
| Raspberry Pi 5 | ||||||||||
| Generic/Virt | N/A | N/A | ||||||||
| RockPro64 | N/A | N/A | ||||||||
| HoneyComb LX2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | |||||||
| Pinebook Pro | N/A | N/A |
Notes:
- During the Kernel upgrade process (using
upgradepkg), any errors should be noted and rectified. - All boots should be performed under a logged serial session to capture any errors
Testing Process
Core Support Validation
The initial validation is conducted within a VM on Apple Silicon within macOS.
- Enable screen recording of the VM's console window
- Boot the generic ISO in a VM and perform an installation.
- Review screen recording for errors
- Boot the OS, check for any package installation errors from installpkg:
perl -0777 -ne 'print grep /\n\s*\S/, split /(?=^Install report for )/m' /tmp/installpkg-report.log
- Perform a major version Kernel upgrade:
The Installation was conducted using the new Kernel, but we would have installed the older version.
upgradepkg kernel_armv8-7.2.7-aarch64-1.txz
Capture any errors (there should not be any)
- Reboot the VM into the new Kernel.
Test The Loader Scripts
Ensure that the Kernel module loader scripts don't try to load any deprecated/non-existent modules:
root@honey:~/ac/source/k# ./scripts/validate_kmod_loader_scripts === Testing Loader: /root/slackwareaarch64-current//source/k/SlkOS-initrd-overlay/load_kernel_modules.scr/platform/aarch64/baseline_aarch64 === === Testing Loader: /root/slackwareaarch64-current//source/k/SlkOS-initrd-overlay/load_kernel_modules.scr/platform/aarch64/lx2160acex7 ===
Any errors will be surfaced.
Validating Each Supported Hardware Model
Once the initial validation within the VM has passed, we test each individual supported Hardware Model.
For each supported Hardware Model,
- Write its
bareinstaller image to a spare SD card and boot the Installer. This will validate all of the core support - if the Installer boots, anupgradepkgwithin the OS should work.
- Reboot back into the OS with the previous Kernel.
upgradepkgto the latest Kernel.- Capture the boot log over the serial port or screen recording (for VM)
- Reinstall the OS.
- Wait for new Kernel to be available
- Perform a minor Kernel version number upgrade
Rebuilding All in One Installers
The Slackware ARM All in One Installers (the recommended and documented approach) contain the full set of Slackware packages to enable an offline installation.
These images should only be refreshed once the new Kernel has been tested by the community for a few weeks. This enables fall back troubleshooting using the previous version of the Installers.
