CABLE driver incompatible with CABLE-POP
The existing CABLE driver is specifically configured for the main branch of CABLE, which is behind the CABLE-POP_TRENDY branch in terms of the physics. The CABLE-POP_TRENDY branch requires different namelists, and the existing CABLE driver is configured for a very specific set of meteorological forcings. To not break the existing benchcab configuration, a temporary new driver is required.
You can add namelists to the optional namelists if they don't occur in both versions. MET forcings I don't know about, but sounds like they might have to be optional too?
This has been addressed as part of the larger work on the staged_cable driver.