From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1754976Ab3AKSZu (ORCPT ); Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:25:50 -0500 Received: from mail.kernel.org ([198.145.19.201]:57289 "EHLO mail.kernel.org" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1753213Ab3AKSZt (ORCPT ); Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:25:49 -0500 Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:25:47 -0800 From: Greg KH To: Shannon Nelson Cc: netdev@vger.kernel.org, davem@davemloft.net, dwmw2@infradead.org, jeffrey.t.kirsher@intel.com, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: [PATCH 0/3] ixgbe: request_firmware for configuration parameters Message-ID: <20130111182547.GA22231@kroah.com> References: <20130111020046.15463.72333.stgit@starfish.jf.intel.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20130111020046.15463.72333.stgit@starfish.jf.intel.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15) Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 06:02:20PM -0800, Shannon Nelson wrote: > Most networking dials and knobs can be set using ethtool, ifconfig, ip link > commands, or sysfs entries, all of which can be driven by startup scripts > and other configuration tools. However, they all depend on having a netdev > already set up, and we have some low-level device functionality that needs > to be sorted out before we start setting up MSI-x and memory allocations. > > In order to do early device configuration, most kernel drivers use module > parameters whose settings can be persisted in modprobe.d config files. > However, these can be clumsy to use and manage, difficult to specify port > specific values in a multiport device, and are actively discouraged in > some circles. > > In this patchset, the driver uses the existing request_firmware() and > match_token() facilities to grab an ASCII config file from userspace to > find special startup-time configuration information that needs persistence > across reboots. The configuration strings are formed similar to the > mount options that get passed from /etc/fstab into filesystem modules. Ick, please don't abuse request_firmware() for this type of thing. What's wrong with configfs? It sounds like it will fit your need, and that is what is created for. greg k-h