Quoting Alessandro Selli (alessandroselli@???):

> It cannot work if what you need to do is feeding the HD controller some
> proprietary firmware that cannot legally be embedded in the GPL driver.

ITYM that the resulting derivative work cannot be lawfully
redistributed. But compiling the driver does not redistribute it.

(I'm not necessarily endorsing your view about proprietary firmware.
I'm just pointing out that your conclusion doesn't follow from the
premise.)

If you disagree, kindly point out what reserved right of a copyright
owner is involved in said compilation. Thanks.