GDRCopy build/installation fails on kernel v6.17 and above

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@pakmarkthub is already working on this.

Since Jul 1, 2026.

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Description

ProblemType: Package
DKMSBuildLog:
 DKMS (dkms-3.3.0) make.log for gdrdrv/2.5 for kernel 6.17.0-1004-nvidia-64k (arm64)
 Sun Dec  7 03:00:51 UTC 2025
 
 Building module(s)
 # command: cd /var/lib/dkms/gdrdrv/2.5/build && make CONF_SCRIPT_DIR=scripts KVER=6.17.0-1004-nvidia-64k
 Picking NVIDIA driver sources from NVIDIA_SRC_DIR=/usr/src/nvidia-590.44.01/nvidia. If that does not meet your expectation, you might have a stale driver still around and that might cause problems.
 Setting NVIDIA_IS_OPENSOURCE=y
 Setting HAVE_VM_FLAGS_SET=n
 Setting HAVE_PROC_OPS=y
 make[1]: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-1004-nvidia-64k'
 make[2]: Entering directory '/var/lib/dkms/gdrdrv/2.5/build'
 warning: the compiler differs from the one used to build the kernel
   The kernel was built by: aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc-13 (Ubuntu 13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04) 13.3.0
   You are using:           gcc-13 (Ubuntu 13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04) 13.3.0
   CC [M]  nv-p2p-dummy.o
   CC [M]  gdrdrv.o
 gdrdrv.c:157:20: error: redefinition of ‘vm_flags_set’
   157 | static inline void vm_flags_set(struct vm_area_struct *vma, vm_flags_t flags)
       |                    ^~~~~~~~~~~~
 In file included from gdrdrv.c:34:
 /usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-1004-nvidia-64k/include/linux/mm.h:743:20: note: previous definition of ‘vm_flags_set’ with type ‘void(struct vm_area_struct *, vm_flags_t)’ {aka ‘void(struct vm_area_struct *, long unsigned int)’}
   743 | static inline void vm_flags_set(struct vm_area_struct *vma,
       |                    ^~~~~~~~~~~~
 gdrdrv.c: In function ‘vm_flags_set’:
 gdrdrv.c:159:19: error: assignment of read-only member ‘vm_flags’
   159 |     vma->vm_flags |= flags;
       |                   ^~
 make[4]: *** [/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-1004-nvidia-64k/scripts/Makefile.build:287: gdrdrv.o] Error 1

Root Cause:
Starting v6.15, vm_flags_set is marked GPL only symbol - https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/45ad9f5290dc4bb2249e951d4b3756d3ebda2d66

The build failed because dummy test module used a GPL‑only kernel symbol (__vma_start_write, reached via vm_flags_set) while declaring a non‑GPL license (MODULE_LICENSE("MIT")) in test_gdrdrv_HAVE_VM_FLAGS_SET.sh script. The kernel’s modpost step checks module license and rejected any module that uses GPL‑only symbols but is not marked with a GPL‑compatible license, which caused the error GPL-incompatible module test-dummy.ko uses GPL-only symbol '__vma_start_write' and a non‑zero return code.

Solution: Mark test-dummy.ko with Dual MIT/GPL license

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