I apologize for asking such a basic question.

I have recompiled the wifi module on an Orange Pi PC+ to operate in concurrent mode so it can act in both station and AP mode at the same time, allowing it to be a wifi repeater.

The problem is, this feature is lost on every kernel upgrade, requiring me to recompile the module each time I upgrade the kernel.  The kernel module driver often changes slightly between kernel versions, and I have to track down and fix new bugs in the source code that prevent it from compiling when concurrent mode is enabled.

I'm happy with how the wifi module performs now, but don't want to lose the ability to get needed kernel updates in the future.  Is there any way I can keep the wifi module I have now without losing the ability to upgrade the rest of the kernel?

 

 

There are several options:

1. If your work doesn't break basic functionality, sent your changes with a patch

2. Make driver dkms capable and build out of the tree. That module should automatically rebuild on kernel change

3. Freeze kernel and don't update

Thanks for your help.

 

1. I would be happy to submit a patch, but I'm not sure you want it--concurrent mode cuts wifi transfer speed in half, because the radio is continually switching between two modes.  Would that be acceptable to the project?

2. Thanks for the tip.  I'll look into dkms.

3. Not my prefered choice, but that's always a fallback...