EXPERIMENTAL test kernels for issue #108 (do not use in production)

⚠️ EXPERIMENTAL test kernels for issue #108 — NOT for production

These are diagnostic builds for the reporters on #108. They have had no hardware testing. Do not deploy them fleet-wide; test on one machine, report back on the issue, then switch back to the stock kernel.

How to install for a test: FOG web UI → FOG Configuration → Kernel Update is for official kernels only — for these, manually copy the file to /var/www/html/fog/service/ipxe/ (or /tftpboot setups: your bzImage path), either renaming it to bzImage (back up the original first!) or, cleaner, set it per-host: Host Management → your test host → Host Kernel = the test filename.

bzImage-6.18.38-fos-test — for the Arrow Lake "stuck at EFI stub" machines (signature C)

Kernel 6.18.38 LTS built with the full FOS config, the same vendor Realtek drivers as stock, and the VMD fix from #113. Built from the #114 branch.

Who should test: @sura008, @ThePawlow, @college-stjoseph (Dell Pro Max FCM2250 / FCS1250 / MC16250 and similar Core Ultra machines), and @JCS-RVK (xcp-ng VM — we specifically want to know whether the VM-boot regression you saw on the 6.17 experimental kernel is still present on 6.18).

sha256: fa59f7664a9407bb17205539d273a96c363f84dc3a87e267d0e1893cbaa01c8f

bzImage-6.12.35-r8169-test — for the "MAC address becomes 00:00:00:00:00:00" machines (signature B)

Identical to the stock 6.12.35 FOS kernel except the Realtek 2.5G NIC is driven by the upstream in-tree r8169 driver instead of Realtek's vendor r8125 driver, with the RTL8125 PHY firmware embedded. This is an A/B experiment: if the vendor driver's power-down path is what kills the NIC (until a flea-power drain revives it), this kernel should stop the MAC-loss from happening.

Who should test: @Rattenjunge, @casjengu.

How to test: install this kernel on the affected host, then do the exact reboot/System-Information cycle that normally kills the adapter (3–4 rounds). Report whether the MAC ever goes to 00:00:00:00:00:00. If the NIC is already dead, drain it first (shut down, unplug AC, hold power 30 s / leave unplugged a few minutes), verify the NIC is back, then start the test.

sha256: b348e4f70ae52c326837a407a352d7da9e8cc965d5db1aa2d421c3aa713be048

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Full triage and per-signature diagnostics: see the comment on #108.

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