[Solved] Patching Dwm

Message

jb1277976_ · Post by **jb1277976_** » Mon Apr 28, 2025 6:33 pm

Hello,

I have patched dwm the suckless way and everything is fine.. My question is that i want to start over and do it the portage gentoo way.. i also want to use git.. if Gentoo puts cocnfig.def.h and other stuff in /var/tmp working directory it would make sense to get a git init in the working directory but for some reason when i emerge dwm the /var/tmp directory is gone meaning the git init repo is gone.. What can i do ?

Thanks

Post by **Banana** » Mon Apr 28, 2025 6:40 pm

I don't really get what you mean by using git in this case.
Gentoo has an official way to apply patches: https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki//etc/portage/patches

jb1277976_ · Post by **jb1277976_** » Mon Apr 28, 2025 6:44 pm

Banana wrote:I don't really get what you mean by using git in this case.
Gentoo has an official way to apply patches: https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki//etc/portage/patches

Hi,

Sorry if i didn't explain.. When i put patches in the correct dir and run ebuild name.ebuild clean prepare if they work they work then i can rebuild dwm and it works.. but sometimes it fails and i don't know where dwm.c or config.def.h are since the working directory gets rebuilt every time i re-emerge.. how do i manually fix patches if it fails ?

Hope that makes sense

I found this viewtopic-p-8815189.html#8815189 and will try it.. i will patch manually the put that patch into portage direcotry with the patches and see if it works

Post by **NeddySeagoon** » Mon Apr 28, 2025 7:56 pm

jb1277976_,

Is FEATURES="keepwork" what you want?
Read

Code: Select all

man make.conf

before you use it.

Set it either on the command line or on a per package basis.

jb1277976_ · Post by **jb1277976_** » Mon Apr 28, 2025 10:09 pm

NeddySeagoon wrote:jb1277976_,

Is FEATURES="keepwork" what you want?
Read
Code: Select all
man make.conf
before you use it.

Set it either on the command line or on a per package basis.

Thanks

Seems like it would work but for some reason it seems like portage is skipping the working dir. i just deleted savedconfig and took out the keepwork and will try to see what i can do..

Any other hints or tips ?

@NeddySeagoon

It's working thanks.. trying to git init from there isn't working for some reason.. patching the dir without git works fine

This is such a learning experience.. i'm giong to try git again

Thanks

Post by Hu » Mon Apr 28, 2025 11:29 pm

Portage normally clears the working directory before starting the build, to avoid mysterious failures from broken prior runs. The Portage /etc/portage/patches mechanism exists to let you apply patches to the newly reinitialized working directory after it has been cleared and unpacked. You should not use a workflow that depends on the long term persistence of anything in /var/tmp. For the limited purpose of prototyping your patch, working in that directory can work. However, you should only do this long enough to draft a patch for use via /etc/portage/patches.

If you still need help, please describe your current workflow in sufficient detail we could recreate it, and describe what is still not working as desired.

jb1277976_ · Post by **jb1277976_** » Tue Apr 29, 2025 1:24 am

Hu wrote:Portage normally clears the working directory before starting the build, to avoid mysterious failures from broken prior runs. The Portage /etc/portage/patches mechanism exists to let you apply patches to the newly reinitialized working directory after it has been cleared and unpacked. You should not use a workflow that depends on the long term persistence of anything in /var/tmp. For the limited purpose of prototyping your patch, working in that directory can work. However, you should only do this long enough to draft a patch for use via /etc/portage/patches.

If you still need help, please describe your current workflow in sufficient detail we could recreate it, and describe what is still not working as desired.

Hello,

Everything is working now.. i used the post from here viewtopic-p-8860431.html#8860431 enabled FEATURES="keepwork" so the working dir of dwm is always there after i unpacked it with the ebuild.. i created a git repo and i've applied like 8 patches lol.. i don't have savedconfig i just edit the source directly and emerge dwm..

Everything is good

Thanks

jb1277976_ · Post by **jb1277976_** » Thu May 01, 2025 10:51 pm

NeddySeagoon wrote:jb1277976_,

Is FEATURES="keepwork" what you want?
Read
Code: Select all
man make.conf
before you use it.

Set it either on the command line or on a per package basis.

Something wierd is literally happening right now

i put a patch in portage patches area right.. when i emerge it says that config.def.h.rej has been placed in my working dir in /var/tmp i then go there patch it and emerge dwm and it fails again.. same problem..

This is ware it gets weird.. say i patch it then go to /var/db/repos/gentoo/x11-wm/dwm then rune ebuild dwm-6 merge everything works fine and im a happy camper.. it does fail with the ebuild if i run it with clean prepare or clean merge

Wierd right ?

What should i do ?

jb1277976_ · Post by **jb1277976_** » Thu May 01, 2025 11:01 pm

Hu wrote:Portage normally clears the working directory before starting the build, to avoid mysterious failures from broken prior runs. The Portage /etc/portage/patches mechanism exists to let you apply patches to the newly reinitialized working directory after it has been cleared and unpacked. You should not use a workflow that depends on the long term persistence of anything in /var/tmp. For the limited purpose of prototyping your patch, working in that directory can work. However, you should only do this long enough to draft a patch for use via /etc/portage/patches.

If you still need help, please describe your current workflow in sufficient detail we could recreate it, and describe what is still not working as desired.

I didn't see this but i just did a comment about this here viewtopic-p-8860610.html#8860610

Thanks