RE: [PATCH] examples/ip_reassembly: remove conflicting Tx offload

["Morten Brørup" <mb@smartsharesystems.com>]

+CC Bruce

> From: Stephen Hemminger [mailto:stephen@networkplumber.org]
> 
> On Fri, 19 Sep 2025 15:12:13 +0800
> Zhichao Zeng <zhichaox.zeng@intel.com> wrote:
> 
> > IP packet reassembly requires the MULTI_SEGS offload to be enabled in
> order
> > to handle fragmented packets across multiple memory segments.
> However, the
> > MBUF_FAST_FREE offload conflicts with MULTI_SEGS and cannot be
> enabled
> > simultaneously.
> >
> > Remove the MBUF_FAST_FREE offload to avoid conflicts with MULTI_SEGS.
> >
> > Fixes: 9df56e69ee3f ("examples/ip_reassembly: convert to new ethdev
> offloads API")
> > Cc: stable@dpdk.org
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Zhichao Zeng <zhichaox.zeng@intel.com>
> >
> 
> Later Tech Board discussion concluded that fast free and multi segs are
> not
> conflicting flags. Dropping this patch.

Let's postpone rather than drop this patch.

The documentation still says that FAST_FREE does not allow segmented packets.
And it has been reported that some drivers fail when using both flags.
The Tech Board wishes to get rid of the mutual exclusivity, to support jumbo frames with FAST_FREE; but the mutual exclusivity is still under investigation, and no final conclusion has been reached yet.
For now, it has been concluded that the mbuf library is not the reason for mutual exclusivity, but it has not yet been concluded if is required for driver implementation purposes.