If build with no dkms, breaks build even after install dkms

[dtgriscom]

I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.4. I cloned this repository, and tried

sudo make dkms

But, got an error:

make: dkms: Command not found
Makefile:91: recipe for target 'dkms' failed
make: *** [dkms] Error 127

I installed dkms, and then tried to make this again, but got a different error:

mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/usr/src/asus-wmi-sensors-b6c25d2’: File exists
Makefile:91: recipe for target 'dkms' failed
make: *** [dkms] Error 1

So, the first failed make had created the directory, but subsequent makes fail if the directory exists. I tried make clean, but it didn't remove the created directory. I finally hand-deleted the directory, and the sudo make dkms got a lot further (it ended up failing, but that'll be a different report).

Suggestions:

• Have sudo make clean remove the source directory
• Check for dkms (and other prerequisites?) before creating the source directory

[KeithMyers]

I've fallen into this Catch-22 myself a few times. Always had to remove the flubbed original try at the dkms install before being successful.

[TeamFahQ]

Try sudo make dkms -i

The -i flag will ignore the file exists error

[dtgriscom]

Telling make to ignore all errors wouldn't feel safe to me as an end-user; it would be far better to have the Makefile itself be more robust.

Given that the directory name is built using git describe --long --always, there's virtually no chance that automatically deleting the directory would cause harm, right?

[TeamFahQ]

I see your point. But it was just a suggestion.

So, the commands:

To make the module
sudo make dkms

To clean the build directory
sudo make clean

To uninstall the module
sudo make dkms_clean

[electrified]

I will add a check to the makefile to ensure DKMS is installed.