Bump mainline kernels to rc5 and disable 8189es

[igorpecovnik]

Description

Maintenance. Bump mainline kernel to 6.17.rc7

8189ES breaks compilation. I spent some time trying to fix it, but couldn't find solution withing reasonable time. This is not urgent to resolve, while its urgent that CI is brought back in function.

How Has This Been Tested?

• CI

Checklist:

• My changes generate no new warnings
• Any dependent changes have been merged and published in downstream modules

[coderabbitai]

Walkthrough

Updates two files: config/sources/mainline-kernel.conf.sh — in mainline_kernel_decide_version__upstream_release_candidate_number the KERNELBRANCH tag for KERNEL_MAJOR_MINOR=6.17 is changed from tag:v6.17-rc1 to tag:v6.17-rc5 (no other logic changes); lib/functions/compilation/patch/drivers_network.sh — narrows RTL8189ES applicability to linux-version 3.14–6.16 and adds/reorders an additional rtl8192eu patch wireless-rtl8192eu-Fix-building-on-6.16-6.17.patch applied for kernels 6.16–6.17.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 3 (Moderate) | ⏱️ ~20 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• mainline-kernel: bump 6.16 to released #8443 — Modifies the same mainline_kernel_decide_version__upstream_release_candidate_number function and adjusts RC tag handling for 6.17.
• remove wifi patches for kernel v6.16 merged upstream #8332 — Changes rtl8192eu/Realtek WiFi patching logic in lib/functions/compilation/patch/drivers_network.sh.
• bump edge to 6.16.0-rc7 #8406 — Adjusts upstream RC tag assignment in mainline_kernel_decide_version__upstream_release_candidate_number for nearby kernel branches.

Suggested reviewers

• krachlatte
• amazingfate
• pyavitz
• clee
• joekhoobyar

Pre-merge checks and finishing touches

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 33.33% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	You can run @coderabbitai generate docstrings to improve docstring coverage.

✅ Passed checks (2 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title Check	✅ Passed	The title "Bump mainline kernels to rc5 and disable 8189es" concisely captures the primary changes in the diff: the 6.17 upstream tag was changed to v6.17-rc5 and the RTL8189ES driver applicability was restricted (effectively disabling it for 6.17). There is a separate PR metadata/description inconsistency referencing rc7, but that does not make the title inaccurate for the actual code changes.
Description Check	✅ Passed	The PR description clearly states the intent to bump the mainline kernel (to 6.17 rc), notes CI testing, and documents the RTL8189ES compilation break which explains the driver-related changes; these points are directly relevant to the changes in the diff (kernel RC tag adjustments and network driver patch updates), so the description is on-topic and appropriate.

✨ Finishing touches

• 📝 Generate Docstrings

🧪 Generate unit tests

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment
• Commit unit tests in branch bump-mainline

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[github-actions]

✅ This PR has been reviewed and approved — all set for merge!

[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

🧹 Nitpick comments (1)

config/sources/mainline-kernel.conf.sh (1)

11-12: Optional safety: verify tag at build time and fall back to previous RC.

Prevents broken nightlies when tags lag on mirrors. Example inline guard:

-		declare -g KERNELBRANCH="tag:v6.17-rc6"
+		local _rc_tag="v6.17-rc6"
+		if git ls-remote --tags https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git "${_rc_tag}" | grep -q "${_rc_tag}$"; then
+			declare -g KERNELBRANCH="tag:${_rc_tag}"
+		else
+			# Fallback to previous known-good RC
+			declare -g KERNELBRANCH="tag:v6.17-rc5"
+		fi

📜 Review details

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Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between b8a0395 and c924075.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• config/sources/mainline-kernel.conf.sh (1 hunks)

🧰 Additional context used

🧠 Learnings (3)

📓 Common learnings

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
PR: armbian/build#0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-07-21T04:12:02.439Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, for recurring maintenance tasks like kernel version bumping, TODO comments should use generic version formats (e.g., "MAJOR.MINOR-rc1") rather than specific version numbers (e.g., "6.17-rc1") to avoid the need for frequent comment updates that would create unnecessary maintenance overhead.

Learnt from: The-going
PR: armbian/build#8147
File: config/sources/families/include/sunxi64_common.inc:38-39
Timestamp: 2025-04-30T16:16:47.150Z
Learning: The Armbian build system references Linux kernel versions in the form "tag:v6.14.4" in the KERNELBRANCH variable, even when point release tags might not be directly visible in the upstream repository in the same form.

📚 Learning: 2025-07-21T04:12:02.439Z

Learnt from: EvilOlaf
PR: armbian/build#0
File: :0-0
Timestamp: 2025-07-21T04:12:02.439Z
Learning: In the Armbian build system, for recurring maintenance tasks like kernel version bumping, TODO comments should use generic version formats (e.g., "MAJOR.MINOR-rc1") rather than specific version numbers (e.g., "6.17-rc1") to avoid the need for frequent comment updates that would create unnecessary maintenance overhead.

Applied to files:

• config/sources/mainline-kernel.conf.sh

📚 Learning: 2025-04-30T16:16:47.150Z

Learnt from: The-going
PR: armbian/build#8147
File: config/sources/families/include/sunxi64_common.inc:38-39
Timestamp: 2025-04-30T16:16:47.150Z
Learning: The Armbian build system references Linux kernel versions in the form "tag:v6.14.4" in the KERNELBRANCH variable, even when point release tags might not be directly visible in the upstream repository in the same form.

Applied to files:

• config/sources/mainline-kernel.conf.sh

⏰ Context from checks skipped due to timeout of 90000ms. You can increase the timeout in your CodeRabbit configuration to a maximum of 15 minutes (900000ms). (1)

• GitHub Check: Generate artifacts / JSON matrix: 17/16 :: 17 artifact chunks, 16 image chunks

🔇 Additional comments (1)

config/sources/mainline-kernel.conf.sh (1)

10-10: Good: TODO keeps a generic “MAJOR.MINOR-rc1” phrasing.

Matches our guidance to avoid hard‑coding specific versions in comments. No change needed.

[leggewie]

title of the ticket say "bump to rc7", patch says rc5? rabiit says rc6 is available but not rc7.

[igorpecovnik]

rc7 doesn't work ... changing to WIP. I can only test with CI if PR is not draft ... this is anomaly.

[EvilOlaf]

There is no rc7 yet. Probably available on sunday with tag fetchable early monday.
https://kernel.org/