Re: [RFC PATCH net-next v2 5/6] ice: implement device flash update via devlink

[Jacob Keller <jacob.e.keller@intel.com>]

On 7/17/2020 11:35 AM, Jacob Keller wrote:

> +	devlink_flash_update_begin_notify(devlink);
> +	devlink_flash_update_status_notify(devlink, "Preparing to flash",
> +					   component, 0, 0);
> +	err = ice_flash_pldm_image(pf, fw, extack);
> +	devlink_flash_update_end_notify(devlink);
> +
> +	release_firmware(fw);
> +
> +	return err;
> +}
> +

Hi Jakub, Jiri,

I noticed something interesting recently in regards to the
devlink_flash_update_end_notify.

The way that iproute2/devlink works is that if
DEVLINK_CMD_FLASH_UPDATE_END is sent, then it will stop waiting for the
error response from DEVLINK_CMD_FLASH_UPDATE.

This means that if a driver sends DEVLINK_CMD_FLASH_UPDATE_END on a
failed update, the devlink program doesn't report the error or the
netlink status message.

Is it expected to send DEVLINK_CMD_FLASH_UPDATE_END on failures? All
current drivers appear to do so.

Perhaps its a bug in the devlink application on not waiting for the
flash command to properly complete?

Would it make sense to extend DEVLINK_FLASH_UPDATE_END to include an
attribute which specified the error code? But then would that include
the netlink extended status message?

It's not a huge deal but it seemed weird that if we detect any errors
during the main flash update process we will not properly report them.

I wasn't quite sure where the bug actually lies, so help here is
appreciated on figuring out what the best fix is.

Regards,
Jake