Re: [PATCH iwl-next] ixgbe: remove ixgbe_ping_all_vfs() from link state change handlers

[Simon Horman <horms@kernel.org>]

On Tue, Sep 15, 2026 at 02:55:47PM +0200, Aleksandr Loktionov wrote:
> When multiple VFs are brought up simultaneously, a VF can receive a CTS
> (Clear To Send) mailbox message instead of the expected RESET | (N)ACK
> response, because the watchdog fires a gratuitous ping right as the VF
> mailbox transaction is in progress.
> 
> Remove the ixgbe_ping_all_vfs() call from both ixgbe_watchdog_link_is_up()
> and ixgbe_watchdog_link_is_down().  Both paths contain an identical call
> with the same race window during VF initialization: link-state changes
> (up or down) can arrive while VFs are mid-initialization, and the
> gratuitous ping from either direction collides with the VF mailbox state
> machine for the same reason.
> 
> Link-state changes are already communicated to VFs through the normal
> mailbox protocol; these extra pings are redundant on both paths.

Thanks for including the paragraph above. It was very helpful.

> 
> This removes the last two callers of ixgbe_ping_all_vfs(), so remove
> the now-unused function and its declaration as well.
> 
> Suggested-by: Sebastian Basierski <sebastianx.basierski@intel.com>
> Signed-off-by: Aleksandr Loktionov <aleksandr.loktionov@intel.com>

Reviewed-by: Simon Horman <horms@kernel.org>