title: Linux latest stable compilation: cannot represent change to vmlinux-gdb.py:
body: <h3>The issue:</h3>
  
  <ul>
  <li>It's been 20 years since:
  
  <ul>
  <li>I last wrote >1K of C code</li>
  <li>compiled anything >10K source lines </li>
  </ul></li>
  <li>My current Distro's support (Ubuntu 16.04) for an <code>0cf3:e300 Atheros Communications, Inc.</code> WiFi driver is abysmal: 8-12Mbps is the best I get.</li>
  </ul>
  
  <h3>What I know about kernel version priorities:</h3>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Use your own distro's kernel (out of the question: just too slow)</li>
  <li>Use the latest <a href="https://www.kernel.org/" rel="noreferrer">stable kernel</a> </li>
  <li>Use the latest LTS kernel</li>
  </ol>
  
  <h3>What I've tried:</h3>
  
  <pre><code>git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
  git checkout -b stable v5.1.2
  cp /boot/config-`uname -r` .config
  yes '' | make oldconfig
  make -j `getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN\' deb-pkg LOCALVERSION=-fab
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Which gives me the following error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>dpkg-source: error: cannot represent change to vmlinux-gdb.py:
  dpkg-source: error:   new version is symlink to /home/fab-user/Documents/Source/linux/scripts/gdb/vmlinux-gdb.py
  dpkg-source: error:   old version is nonexistent
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>in the following full output:</p>
  
  <pre><code>make -j `getconf _NPROCESSORS_ONLN` deb-pkg LOCALVERSION=-fab
    HOSTCC  scripts/basic/fixdep
    HOSTCC  scripts/kconfig/conf.o
    HOSTCC  scripts/kconfig/confdata.o
    HOSTCC  scripts/kconfig/expr.o
    LEX     scripts/kconfig/lexer.lex.c
    YACC    scripts/kconfig/parser.tab.h
    YACC    scripts/kconfig/parser.tab.c
    HOSTCC  scripts/kconfig/preprocess.o
    HOSTCC  scripts/kconfig/symbol.o
    HOSTCC  scripts/kconfig/lexer.lex.o
    HOSTCC  scripts/kconfig/parser.tab.o
    HOSTLD  scripts/kconfig/conf
  scripts/kconfig/conf  --syncconfig Kconfig
    UPD     include/config/kernel.release
  make clean
  /bin/bash ./scripts/package/mkdebian
    TAR     linux-5.1.2-fab.tar.gz
  origversion=$(dpkg-parsechangelog -SVersion |sed 's/-[^-]*$//');\
      mv linux-5.1.2-fab.tar.gz ../linux-5.1.2-fab_${origversion}.orig.tar.gz
  dpkg-buildpackage -r"fakeroot -u" -a$(cat debian/arch)  -i.git -us -uc
  dpkg-buildpackage: source package linux-5.1.2-fab
  dpkg-buildpackage: source version 5.1.2-fab-1
  dpkg-buildpackage: source distribution xenial
  dpkg-buildpackage: source changed by fab-user &lt;fab-user@fab-ux-predator&gt;
  dpkg-buildpackage: host architecture amd64
   dpkg-source -i.git --before-build linux
   fakeroot -u debian/rules clean
  rm -rf debian/*tmp debian/files
  make clean
   dpkg-source -i.git -b linux
  dpkg-source: info: using source format '1.0'
  dpkg-source: warning: source directory 'linux' is not &lt;sourcepackage&gt;-&lt;upstreamversion&gt; 'linux-5.1.2-fab-5.1.2-fab'
  dpkg-source: warning: .orig directory name linux.orig is not &lt;package&gt;-&lt;upstreamversion&gt; (wanted linux-5.1.2-fab-5.1.2-fab.orig)
  dpkg-source: info: building linux-5.1.2-fab using existing linux-5.1.2-fab_5.1.2-fab.orig.tar.gz
  dpkg-source: info: building linux-5.1.2-fab in linux-5.1.2-fab_5.1.2-fab-1.diff.gz
  dpkg-source: error: cannot represent change to vmlinux-gdb.py:
  dpkg-source: error:   new version is symlink to /home/fab-user/Documents/Source/linux/scripts/gdb/vmlinux-gdb.py
  dpkg-source: error:   old version is nonexistent
  dpkg-source: warning: ignoring deletion of file .scmversion, use --include-removal to override
  dpkg-source: error: cannot represent change to linux-5.1.1-fab.tar.gz: binary file contents changed
  dpkg-source: warning: the diff modifies the following upstream files: 
   .clang-format
   .cocciconfig
   .config.old
   .get_maintainer.ignore
   .mailmap
   .version
   CREDITS
   LICENSES/exceptions/GCC-exception-2.0
   LICENSES/exceptions/Linux-syscall-note
   LICENSES/other/Apache-2.0
   LICENSES/other/CDDL-1.0
   LICENSES/other/GPL-1.0
   LICENSES/other/ISC
   LICENSES/other/Linux-OpenIB
   LICENSES/other/MPL-1.1
   LICENSES/other/X11
   LICENSES/preferred/BSD-2-Clause
   LICENSES/preferred/BSD-3-Clause
   LICENSES/preferred/BSD-3-Clause-Clear
   LICENSES/preferred/GPL-2.0
   LICENSES/preferred/LGPL-2.0
   LICENSES/preferred/LGPL-2.1
   LICENSES/preferred/MIT
   MAINTAINERS
   Module.symvers
   README
  dpkg-source: info: use the '3.0 (quilt)' format to have separate and documented changes to upstream files, see dpkg-source(1)
  dpkg-source: error: unrepresentable changes to source
  dpkg-buildpackage: error: dpkg-source -i.git -b linux gave error exit status 1
  scripts/package/Makefile:70: recipe for target 'deb-pkg' failed
  make[1]: *** [deb-pkg] Error 1
  Makefile:1396: recipe for target 'deb-pkg' failed
  make: *** [deb-pkg] Error 2
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>so I ended up doing:</p>
  
  <pre><code>git checkout -b v4.19.38 v4.19.38
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>which gives me up to 10MB/S instead of my distro's standard kernel's 12Mbps, <em>and works great, but I need to reboot my machine every 24 hours if I want to keep the full speed of the WiFi Driver.</em></p>
  
  <h3>The question:</h3>
  
  <p><s>Am I doomed to stay on 4.19.38?</s><br>
  <em>Is there a way to get the 4.19.39-5.12 versions working permanently?</em></p>