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From: "Joshua Peisach" To: "Jonas Gorski" , "Joshua Peisach" Cc: "Johannes Berg" , , X-Mailer: aerc 0.21.0 References: In-Reply-To: X-CRM114-Version: 20100106-BlameMichelson ( TRE 0.8.0 (BSD) ) MR-646709E3 X-CRM114-CacheID: sfid-20260415_044428_419948_8B3AD0B6 X-CRM114-Status: GOOD ( 27.04 ) X-BeenThere: b43-dev@lists.infradead.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.34 Precedence: list List-Id: b43/b43legacy Linux driver discussions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"; Format="Flowed" Sender: "b43-dev" Errors-To: b43-dev-bounces+b43-dev=archiver.kernel.org@lists.infradead.org T24gVHVlIEFwciAxNCwgMjAyNiBhdCA4OjI0IEFNIEVEVCwgSm9uYXMgR29yc2tpIHdyb3RlOgo+ IE9uIFR1ZSwgQXByIDE0LCAyMDI2IGF0IDE6MzHigK9QTSBKb3NodWEgUGVpc2FjaCA8anBlaXNh Y2hAdWJ1bnR1LmNvbT4gd3JvdGU6Cj4+Cj4+IE9uIFR1ZSBBcHIgMTQsIDIwMjYgYXQgNToxNCBB TSBFRFQsIEpvaGFubmVzIEJlcmcgd3JvdGU6Cj4+ID4gSSB0aGluayB0aGVyZSdzIG5vIGVhc3kg YW5zd2VyIC0gd2hhdCBhcmUgeW91IGV2ZW4gdHJ5aW5nIHRvIGFjaGlldmU/Cj4+ID4gRG9lcyBi NDMgbm90IHdvcmsgc3VmZmljaWVudGx5IHdlbGw/IERvIHlvdSBldmVuIGtub3cgaWYgc29tZSBz cGVjaWZpYwo+PiA+IGNhbGlicmF0aW9uIGhhdmUgYSB0ZW5kZW5jeSB0byBnbyBvdXQgb2Ygd2hh Y2s/IElzIHRoZXJlIGxhdGVyIGZpcm13YXJlCj4+ID4gdGhhdCBoYXMgc29tZSBhZHZhbnRhZ2Ug KGdpdmVuIGhvdyBsaXR0bGUgYWN0dWFsbHkgaGFwcGVucyBpbiBmaXJtd2FyZQo+PiA+IGluIHRo ZXNlIGRldmljZXMsIEknZCBiZSBzdXJwcmlzZWQgYnkgdGhhdCkgYnV0IGlzbid0IGNvbXBhdGli bGUgd2l0aAo+PiA+IHRoZSBkcml2ZXIgbm93LCBhbmQgeW91IHdhbnQgdG8gY2hhbmdlIHRoYXQ/ Cj4+ID4KPj4gPiBJJ2QgYmUgdGVtcHRlZCB0byBzYXkgdGhhdCBpZiB0aGVyZSdzIG5vIHByb2Js ZW0gdGhlcmUgZG9uJ3QgdHJ5IHRvIGZpeAo+PiA+IGFueXRoaW5nLCB0aGUgaGFyZHdhcmUgaXMg YW5jaWVudCBhbnl3YXksIGxpa2VseSBoYXMgZmV3IHVzZXJzLCBhbmQKPj4gPiB0aG9zZSB1c2Vy cyB3b3VsZCBwcm9iYWJseSBiZSBmaW5lIHdpdGgganVzdCBsZWF2aW5nIGl0Pwo+PiA+Cj4+ID4g am9oYW5uZXMKPj4KPj4gVGhlIEJDTTQzMjEgKG5waHkpIGRvZXNuJ3QgY29ubmVjdCB0byBteSA1 RyBuZXR3b3JrLCBzbyBJIGZpZ3VyZWQgdGhhdAo+PiBieSBmaWxsaW5nIGluIFRPRE9zIGFuZCBG SVhNRSdzLCBJIGNvdWxkIGV2ZW50dWFsbHkgZ2V0IHNvbWV0aGluZwo+PiB3b3JraW5nLgo+Pgo+ PiBPdGhlciB0aGFuIHRoYXQsIEkgd2FzIHRoaW5raW5nIG9mIG1ha2luZyBpbXByb3ZlbWVudHMg Zm9yIHRoZSBzYWtlIG9mCj4+IGltcHJvdmluZyB0aGUgZHJpdmVyLgo+Cj4gVGhlIGluaXRpYWwg dmVyc2lvbiBvZiB0aGUgYnJjbTgwMjExIHNvZnRtYWMgZHJpdmVyIFsxXSBzaG91bGQgYWxzbwo+ IGhlbHAgaW4gbWFraW5nIHNlbnNlIG9mIHNvbWUgb2YgdGhlIGNvZGUgKGZsYWcgbmFtZXMgZXRj KS4gV2hpbGUgaXQKPiBvZmZpY2lhbGx5IG9ubHkgc3VwcG9ydHMgQkNNNDMyMjQgYW5kIG5ld2Vy IG9uIEJDTUEsIGl0IHN0aWxsIGhhZAo+IHJlbW5hbnRzIG9mIHN1cHBvcnQgZm9yIG9sZGVyIE4t UEhZIHJldmlzaW9ucywgc28gbWF5IGhlbHAgaW4gZmluZGluZwo+IGRpZmZlcmVuY2VzIG9yIGV4 cGxhaW5pbmcgd2hhdCBjb2RlIGRvZXMuCj4KPiBJIG9uY2UgY29uc2lkZXJlZCB0cnlpbmcgdG8g Y2xlYW4gdXAgYjQzIGJhc2VkIG9uIGJyY21zbWFjLCBidXQgbmV2ZXIKPiBnb3QgYXJvdW5kIHRv IGl0LgoKSXQgZG9lcyBhcHBlYXIgdG8gYmUgc2ltaWxhciAtIGV2ZW4gdGhlIGN1cnJlbnQgYnJj bTgwMjExLiBTbyBtdWNoIHNvCnRoYXQgSSBzb21ldGltZXMgbmVlZCB0byB0aGluayBhYm91dCB3 aGV0aGVyIGI0MyBpcyBhY3R1YWxseSBhCmR1cGxpY2F0ZWQgZHJpdmVyLgoKU2luY2UgYjQzIGlz IGluIGFuIG9ycGhhbiBzdGF0ZSwgSSB0aG91Z2h0IGl0IHdvdWxkIGJlIGEgZ3JlYXQgcGxhY2Ug dG8Kc3RhcnQgZm9yIGtlcm5lbCBkZXZlbG9wbWVudC4gNUcgZG9lc24ndCB3b3JrIG9uIHRoYXQg aU1hYywgc29tZSBvZiB0aGUKUEhZcywgbGlrZSB0aGUgQUMgUEhZcyBhcHBlYXIgdG8gYmUgaW5j b21wbGV0ZSAtIGl0IGZlbHQgcmVhc29uYWJsZS4KCkJlY2F1c2UgSSdtIG9uZSBvZiB0aG9zZSAi dGhlcmUncyBhbHdheXMgcm9vbSBmb3IgaW1wcm92ZW1lbnQgcGVvcGxlIiwKSSB3YXMgZ29pbmcg dG8gdHJ5IHRvIGltcHJvdmUgdGhlIGRyaXZlciwgZmlsbGluZyBvdXQgVE9ET3MsIGZpeGluZwpo YXJkY29kZWQgcmVnaXN0ZXIgbnVtYmVycywgZXRjLiBCdXQgaWYgaXQncyBiZXN0IGxlZnQgYWxv bmUuLiB0aGVuIEkKZ3Vlc3Mgd2UgY2FuIGRvIHRoYXQuCgpUaGF0IGlzLCBhc3N1bWluZyBiNDMg aXMgYWN0dWFsbHkgc3VwcG9zZWQgdG8gYmUgYSBzZXBhcmF0ZSBkcml2ZXIsCmJlY2F1c2UgaWYg YnJjbXNtYWMgYmFzaWNhbGx5IGhhcyB0aGUgc2FtZSBjb2RlLCB0aGVuIG1heWJlIHdlIHNob3Vs ZApmb2N1cyB0byBjZW50cmFsaXppbmcgZXZlcnl0aGluZz8gQnV0IHRoZW4gdGhlcmUncyBiNDNs ZWdhY3kuLiBobS4uLgoKLUpvc2gKCj4KPiBCZXN0IHJlZ2FyZHMsCj4gSm9uYXMKPgo+IFsxXSBo dHRwczovL2dpdGh1Yi5jb20vdG9ydmFsZHMvbGludXgvdHJlZS9hOTUzM2U3ZWEzYzQxMGZlZDJm NGNkOGIzZTFlMjEzZTQ4NTI5Yjc1L2RyaXZlcnMvc3RhZ2luZy9icmNtODAyMTEKCgpfX19fX19f X19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fXwpiNDMtZGV2IG1haWxpbmcg bGlzdApiNDMtZGV2QGxpc3RzLmluZnJhZGVhZC5vcmcKaHR0cDovL2xpc3RzLmluZnJhZGVhZC5v cmcvbWFpbG1hbi9saXN0aW5mby9iNDMtZGV2Cg== From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from smtp.forwardemail.net (smtp.forwardemail.net [121.127.44.73]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.subspace.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 514293793C1 for ; 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From: "Joshua Peisach" To: "Jonas Gorski" , "Joshua Peisach" Cc: "Johannes Berg" , , X-Mailer: aerc 0.21.0 References: In-Reply-To: On Tue Apr 14, 2026 at 8:24 AM EDT, Jonas Gorski wrote: > On Tue, Apr 14, 2026 at 1:31=E2=80=AFPM Joshua Peisach wrote: >> >> On Tue Apr 14, 2026 at 5:14 AM EDT, Johannes Berg wrote: >> > I think there's no easy answer - what are you even trying to achieve? >> > Does b43 not work sufficiently well? Do you even know if some specific >> > calibration have a tendency to go out of whack? Is there later firmwar= e >> > that has some advantage (given how little actually happens in firmware >> > in these devices, I'd be surprised by that) but isn't compatible with >> > the driver now, and you want to change that? >> > >> > I'd be tempted to say that if there's no problem there don't try to fi= x >> > anything, the hardware is ancient anyway, likely has few users, and >> > those users would probably be fine with just leaving it? >> > >> > johannes >> >> The BCM4321 (nphy) doesn't connect to my 5G network, so I figured that >> by filling in TODOs and FIXME's, I could eventually get something >> working. >> >> Other than that, I was thinking of making improvements for the sake of >> improving the driver. > > The initial version of the brcm80211 softmac driver [1] should also > help in making sense of some of the code (flag names etc). While it > officially only supports BCM43224 and newer on BCMA, it still had > remnants of support for older N-PHY revisions, so may help in finding > differences or explaining what code does. > > I once considered trying to clean up b43 based on brcmsmac, but never > got around to it. It does appear to be similar - even the current brcm80211. So much so that I sometimes need to think about whether b43 is actually a duplicated driver. Since b43 is in an orphan state, I thought it would be a great place to start for kernel development. 5G doesn't work on that iMac, some of the PHYs, like the AC PHYs appear to be incomplete - it felt reasonable. Because I'm one of those "there's always room for improvement people", I was going to try to improve the driver, filling out TODOs, fixing hardcoded register numbers, etc. But if it's best left alone.. then I guess we can do that. That is, assuming b43 is actually supposed to be a separate driver, because if brcmsmac basically has the same code, then maybe we should focus to centralizing everything? But then there's b43legacy.. hm... -Josh > > Best regards, > Jonas > > [1] https://github.com/torvalds/linux/tree/a9533e7ea3c410fed2f4cd8b3e1e21= 3e48529b75/drivers/staging/brcm80211