"git binary diffs are not supported" error upon running "patch -p1 < patch-file"

Question

I have a .patch file that I want to apply to the android kernel, and I do so via:

patch -p1 < <patch-file>

After running it, I see git binary diffs are not supported print for the following line of the patch:

+PRODUCT_COPY_FILES += \
+     hardware/ril/libquectel-ril/arm64-v8a/dir:system/bin/dir \

whereas dir is a binary defined in a patch file.

Should I be initializing git, adding all the files, and then running git apply patch-file?

Edit:

After running git init, git add, git commit, I ran git apply <patch-file>, and now I get:

warning: device/qcom/common/rootdir/etc/init.class_main.sh has type 100644, expected 100755
error: patch failed: device/qcom/sdm845/sdm845.mk:87
error: device/qcom/sdm845/sdm845.mk: patch does not apply
warning: device/qcom/sepolicy/generic/vendor/common/file_contexts has type 100644, expected 100755
file.patch:37781: new blank line at EOF.
+
warning: system/core/init/selinux.cpp has type 100644, expected 100755
error: patch failed: system/core/init/selinux.cpp:430
error: system/core/init/selinux.cpp: patch does not apply

Scheider

You don't need to create a Git repository first, but it's probably not a bad idea to do so. – Contracted

do you see why am I getting this print? (not sure if it's a warning or an error but it's preventing a build to complete since these lines aren't "applied" – Scheider

... because someone provided a binary patch, when patch itself doesn't support them? Git added binary patches so that you could turn a commit into a patch even if some of the files in the commit are not printable text. Presumably whoever provided these patches, provided them on the assumption that you have the appropriate Git repository. If you can find the right source repository and clone it, you'll be in great shape. If not, you can find some other repository and clone it and hope, or turn what you have into a repository and wish-and-hope. – Contracted

So does that mean I can't do much with the existing binary patch file i.e applying it? – Scheider

You can use git patch apply to try to apply it. A patch only works if you have the right original file as well, though. I can't tell whether you have the right original file for that particular patch. – Contracted

...after git commit? – Scheider

You can use git patch apply at any time: if you run it in a non-Git-repository, it just tries to be an improved version of patch. But if you have a full Git repository, it can make use of the index lines at the front of each diff. – Contracted

where's the patch file in git patch apply? From what I looked up online, it's git apply patch-file, which upon running errors out error: device/qcom/sdm845/sdm845.mk: patch does not apply – Scheider

Whoops, I meant git apply, not git patch apply. The patch does not apply error means that the patch is for files you don't have in the first place, which is what I was getting at: a patch is only good if you have the files it patches. You have some other set of files. – Contracted

but the device/qcom/sdm845/sdm845.mk file does exist though – Scheider

If you have a file that says "red green blue" named file, and I have a file that says "small medium large" named file, do we have the same files? – Contracted

You mentioned the patch is for files I don't have in the first place. Isn't that implying that I don't have the files it's complaining about which is referenced in the patch file? – Scheider

A file is not just a name. In many ways the name is the least interesting part of a file. A file's content is what matters. A patch says: To get the new file named F, look at the old file named F: at line X you'll find existing content oldContent; replace that with newContent. But what if the file that you have that's named F doesn't have that existing content? – Contracted

To put it another way: just because you have a box with the right label on it, does not mean you have the right stuff in the box. The patch is an update for the contents. It's not a replacement for all the contents: you need to have the right current contents before the patch can be applied to it. – Contracted