I'm trying to test out a mainline kernel (specifically, 3.3-rc4) in OpenWRT. I specified that OpenWRT should use an external kernel tree in menuconfig, and it attempts to build that as expected. However, it fails due to what appears to be a lack of OpenWRT patches being applied. For example, my build current dies at:

  CC [M]  /home/foo/openwrt/build_dir/linux-ar71xx_generic/button-hotplug/button-hotplug.o
/home/foo/openwrt/build_dir/linux-ar71xx_generic/button-hotplug/button-hotplug.c: In function 'button_hotplug_work':
/home/foo/openwrt/build_dir/linux-ar71xx_generic/button-hotplug/button-hotplug.c:175:2: error: implicit declaration of function 'broadcast_uevent' [-Werror=implicit-function-declaration]
cc1: some warnings being treated as errors

I noticed that there is a directory for 3.3 patches under target/linux/generic/patches-3.3. How can I make the build system apply those patches to the mainline kernel?

I'm also interested on this the current kernel has issues with the ath5k driver

drekthar: We use out-of-tree compat wireless. A newer kernel will not give you newer drivers.
shaddi: OpenWrt does not alter external kernel trees, you're expected to patch them yourself.

thanks for clearing that out jow