apfs-dkms FTBS in Noble with the linux-6.17-hwe kernel

[John Cabaj]

[ Impact ]

DKMS make.log for linux-apfs-rw-0.3.2-0ubuntu6.1 for kernel 6.17.0-7-generic (x86_64)
Wed Nov 26 18:36:47 UTC 2025
make: Entering directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-7-generic'
make[1]: Entering directory '/var/lib/dkms/linux-apfs-rw/0.3.2-0ubuntu6.1/build'
warning: the compiler differs from the one used to build the kernel
  The kernel was built by: x86_64-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] btree.o
  CC [M] compress.o
  CC [M] dir.o
  CC [M] extents.o
In file included from dir.c:8:
apfs.h:952:60: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  952 | extern int apfs_fileattr_get(struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
apfs.h:953:85: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  953 | extern int apfs_fileattr_set(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
In file included from extents.c:8:
apfs.h:952:60: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  952 | extern int apfs_fileattr_get(struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
apfs.h:953:85: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  953 | extern int apfs_fileattr_set(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
In file included from btree.c:8:
apfs.h:952:60: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  952 | extern int apfs_fileattr_get(struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
apfs.h:953:85: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  953 | extern int apfs_fileattr_set(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
In file included from compress.c:10:
apfs.h:952:60: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  952 | extern int apfs_fileattr_get(struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
apfs.h:953:85: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  953 | extern int apfs_fileattr_set(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
  CC [M] file.o
  CC [M] inode.o
  CC [M] key.o
  CC [M] libzbitmap.o
In file included from file.c:6:
apfs.h:952:60: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  952 | extern int apfs_fileattr_get(struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
apfs.h:953:85: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  953 | extern int apfs_fileattr_set(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
  CC [M] lzfse/lzfse_decode.o
In file included from inode.c:11:
apfs.h:952:60: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  952 | extern int apfs_fileattr_get(struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
apfs.h:953:85: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  953 | extern int apfs_fileattr_set(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
file.c: In function ‘apfs_page_mkwrite’:
file.c:57:9: error: implicit declaration of function ‘wait_for_stable_page’ [-Werror=implicit-function-declaration]
   57 | wait_for_stable_page(page);
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
file.c:63:14: error: implicit declaration of function ‘page_has_buffers’; did you mean ‘inode_has_buffers’? [-Werror=implicit-function-declaration]
   63 | if (!page_has_buffers(page))
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      | inode_has_buffers
file.c:81:17: error: ‘struct page’ has no member named ‘index’
   81 | if (page->index == size >> PAGE_SHIFT)
      | ^~
file.c: At top level:
file.c:207:27: error: initialization of ‘int (*)(struct dentry *, struct file_kattr *)’ from incompatible pointer type ‘int (*)(struct dentry *, struct fileattr *)’ [-Werror=incompatible-pointer-types]
  207 | .fileattr_get = apfs_fileattr_get,
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
file.c:207:27: note: (near initialization for ‘apfs_file_inode_operations.fileattr_get’)
file.c:208:27: error: initialization of ‘int (*)(struct mnt_idmap *, struct dentry *, struct file_kattr *)’ from incompatible pointer type ‘int (*)(struct mnt_idmap *, struct dentry *, struct fileattr *)’ [-Werror=incompatible-pointer-types]
  208 | .fileattr_set = apfs_fileattr_set,
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
file.c:208:27: note: (near initialization for ‘apfs_file_inode_operations.fileattr_set’)
cc1: some warnings being treated as errors
make[3]: *** [/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-7-generic/scripts/Makefile.build:287: file.o] Error 1
make[3]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
inode.c: In function ‘__apfs_write_begin’:
inode.c:517:16: error: implicit declaration of function ‘grab_cache_page_write_begin’ [-Werror=implicit-function-declaration]
  517 | page = grab_cache_page_write_begin(mapping, index);
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
inode.c:517:14: warning: assignment to ‘struct page *’ from ‘int’ makes pointer from integer without a cast [-Wint-conversion]
  517 | page = grab_cache_page_write_begin(mapping, index);
      | ^
In file included from key.c:7:
apfs.h:952:60: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  952 | extern int apfs_fileattr_get(struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
apfs.h:953:85: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
  953 | extern int apfs_fileattr_set(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~
inode.c:524:14: error: implicit declaration of function ‘page_has_buffers’; did you mean ‘inode_has_buffers’? [-Werror=implicit-function-declaration]
  524 | if (!page_has_buffers(page))
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      | inode_has_buffers
inode.c: In function ‘__apfs_write_end’:
inode.c:657:33: error: passing argument 1 of ‘generic_write_end’ from incompatible pointer type [-Werror=incompatible-pointer-types]
  657 | ret = generic_write_end(file, mapping, pos, len, copied, page_folio(page), fsdata);
      | ^~~~
      | |
      | struct file *
In file included from inode.c:7:
/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-7-generic/include/linux/buffer_head.h:266:23: note: expected ‘const struct kiocb *’ but argument is of type ‘struct file *’
  266 | int generic_write_end(const struct kiocb *, struct address_space *,
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
inode.c: At top level:
inode.c:733:27: error: initialization of ‘int (*)(const struct kiocb *, struct address_space *, loff_t, unsigned int, struct folio **, void **)’ {aka ‘int (*)(const struct kiocb *, struct address_space *, long long int, unsigned int, struct folio **, void **)’} from incompatible pointer type ‘int (*)(struct file *, struct address_space *, loff_t, unsigned int, struct folio **, void **)’ {aka ‘int (*)(struct file *, struct address_space *, long long int, unsigned int, struct folio **, void **)’} [-Werror=incompatible-pointer-types]
  733 | .write_begin = apfs_write_begin,
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
inode.c:733:27: note: (near initialization for ‘apfs_aops.write_begin’)
inode.c:734:27: error: initialization of ‘int (*)(const struct kiocb *, struct address_space *, loff_t, unsigned int, unsigned int, struct folio *, void *)’ {aka ‘int (*)(const struct kiocb *, struct address_space *, long long int, unsigned int, unsigned int, struct folio *, void *)’} from incompatible pointer type ‘int (*)(struct file *, struct address_space *, loff_t, unsigned int, unsigned int, struct folio *, void *)’ {aka ‘int (*)(struct file *, struct address_space *, long long int, unsigned int, unsigned int, struct folio *, void *)’} [-Werror=incompatible-pointer-types]
  734 | .write_end = apfs_write_end,
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~
inode.c:734:27: note: (near initialization for ‘apfs_aops.write_end’)
inode.c:2337:53: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
 2337 | int apfs_fileattr_get(struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa)
      | ^~~~~~~~
inode.c:2337:5: error: conflicting types for ‘apfs_fileattr_get’; have ‘int(struct dentry *, struct fileattr *)’
 2337 | int apfs_fileattr_get(struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa)
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
apfs.h:952:12: note: previous declaration of ‘apfs_fileattr_get’ with type ‘int(struct dentry *, struct fileattr *)’
  952 | extern int apfs_fileattr_get(struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
inode.c: In function ‘apfs_fileattr_get’:
inode.c:2341:29: error: passing argument 1 of ‘fileattr_fill_flags’ from incompatible pointer type [-Werror=incompatible-pointer-types]
 2341 | fileattr_fill_flags(fa, flags);
      | ^~
      | |
      | struct fileattr *
In file included from inode.c:18:
/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-7-generic/include/linux/fileattr.h:59:45: note: expected ‘struct file_kattr *’ but argument is of type ‘struct fileattr *’
   59 | void fileattr_fill_flags(struct file_kattr *fa, u32 flags);
      | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~
inode.c: At top level:
inode.c:2345:78: warning: ‘struct fileattr’ declared inside parameter list will not be visible outside of this definition or declaration
 2345 | int apfs_fileattr_set(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa)
      | ^~~~~~~~
inode.c:2345:5: error: conflicting types for ‘apfs_fileattr_set’; have ‘int(struct mnt_idmap *, struct dentry *, struct fileattr *)’
 2345 | int apfs_fileattr_set(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa)
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
apfs.h:953:12: note: previous declaration of ‘apfs_fileattr_set’ with type ‘int(struct mnt_idmap *, struct dentry *, struct fileattr *)’
  953 | extern int apfs_fileattr_set(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry, struct fileattr *fa);
      | ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
inode.c: In function ‘apfs_fileattr_set’:
inode.c:2355:15: error: invalid use of undefined type ‘struct fileattr’
 2355 | if (fa->flags & ~(FS_APPEND_FL | FS_IMMUTABLE_FL | FS_NODUMP_FL))
      | ^~
inode.c:2357:30: error: passing argument 1 of ‘fileattr_has_fsx’ from incompatible pointer type [-Werror=incompatible-pointer-types]
 2357 | if (fileattr_has_fsx(fa))
      | ^~
      | |
      | struct fileattr *
/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-7-generic/include/linux/fileattr.h:68:62: note: expected ‘const struct file_kattr *’ but argument is of type ‘struct fileattr *’
   68 | static inline bool fileattr_has_fsx(const struct file_kattr *fa)
      | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^~
inode.c:2369:32: error: invalid use of undefined type ‘struct fileattr’
 2369 | apfs_setflags(inode, fa->flags);
      | ^~
cc1: some warnings being treated as errors
make[3]: *** [/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-7-generic/scripts/Makefile.build:287: inode.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** [/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-7-generic/Makefile:2016: .] Error 2
make[1]: *** [/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-7-generic/Makefile:248: __sub-make] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory '/var/lib/dkms/linux-apfs-rw/0.3.2-0ubuntu6.1/build'
make: *** [Makefile:248: __sub-make] Error 2
make: Leaving directory '/usr/src/linux-headers-6.17.0-7-generic'

[ Test case ]

Install the latest linux-6.17 kernel on Noble:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:canonical-kernel-team/ppa3
$ sudo apt install linux-generic-hwe-24.04-edge

Install apfs-dkms:

$ sudo apt install apfs-dkms

Package built and installed successfully.

Load the module:

$ sudo modprobe apfs

Module loaded with no issues.

Verify the filesystem has been registered properly:

$ grep apfs /proc/filesystems

apfs was listed as available fileystem.

The same procedure can be repeated on linux-6.8 to test for possible regressions.

[ Fix ]

Apply upstream patches to properly support the new linux 6.17 ABI, namely the following:
     - debian/patches/0009-Annotate-jump-table-in-lzvn-decompression-code.patch
     - debian/patches/0010-Handle-page-functions-newly-removed-in-6.15.patch
     - debian/patches/0011-Fix-the-returned-type-of-mkdir-for-6.15.patch
     - debian/patches/0012-Dont-reference-page-index-in-6.16.patch
     - debian/patches/0013-Rename-struct-fileattr-to-struct-file_kattr.patch
     - debian/patches/0014-Fix-the-pafs_write_begin-end-type-for-6.17.patch
     - debian/patches/0015-Set-dentry-operations-in-the-new-way.patch

[ Regression potential ]

We may experience regressions in systems that are using the Apple file system module (apfs), especially with kernels >= 6.8 kernel.

[John Cabaj (john-cabaj)]

0.3.2-0ubuntu6.1 -> 0.3.2-0ubuntu6.2 debdiff

[John Cabaj (john-cabaj)]

Package built and available here - https://launchpad.net/~john-cabaj/+archive/ubuntu/hwe-6.17-dkms

[Massimiliano Pellizzer (mpellizzer)]

Sponsored, thanks

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

6.14 is the current hwe kernel and would need to be tested as well

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Hello John, or anyone else affected,

Accepted linux-apfs-rw into noble-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-apfs-rw/0.3.2-0ubuntu6.2 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-noble to verification-done-noble. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-noble. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.