From: "Benoît Monin" <benoit.monin@bootlin.com>
To: linux-i2c@vger.kernel.org
Cc: "Jean Delvare" <jdelvare@suse.de>,
"Wolfram Sang" <wsa+renesas@sang-engineering.com>,
"Thomas Petazzoni" <thomas.petazzoni@bootlin.com>,
"Benoît Monin" <benoit.monin@bootlin.com>
Subject: [PATCH i2c-tools v3 2/2] i2ctransfer: Add optional message modifier flags
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2026 10:25:58 +0100 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260127-msg-flags-v3-2-e7539945db2b@bootlin.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260127-msg-flags-v3-0-e7539945db2b@bootlin.com>
Allow setting protocol mangling and repeated start elision flags of an i2c
message with a set of optional command-line flags. These optional flags
are parsed at the beginning of the DESC field up to a read or write flag.
For example, to read one byte from address 0x50 followed by a stop, then
write two bytes at 0x54 on bus 0, one would call i2ctransfer as follow:
i2ctransfer 0 pr1@0x50 w2@0x54 0x10 0x20
Since the new flags are optional, this patch preserves the compatibility
of the i2ctransfer syntax.
Handling of the message flags is done in add_flag_if_supported(). This
function checks if the flag is defined at compile time and if the adapter
supports the required functionality to handle the flag.
Signed-off-by: Benoît Monin <benoit.monin@bootlin.com>
---
tools/i2ctransfer.8 | 28 ++++++++++++-
tools/i2ctransfer.c | 119 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------
2 files changed, 133 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)
diff --git a/tools/i2ctransfer.8 b/tools/i2ctransfer.8
index 4bdf436..ca41241 100644
--- a/tools/i2ctransfer.8
+++ b/tools/i2ctransfer.8
@@ -96,8 +96,11 @@ The number of blocks is limited by the Linux Kernel and defined by I2C_RDWR_IOCT
.I desc
blocks are composed like this:
-.I {r|w}<length_of_message>[@address]
+.I [inpst]{r|w}<length_of_message>[@address]
+.TP
+.B [inpst]
+If supported, specifies optional MESSAGE MODIFIER FLAGS. See the section below for details.
.TP
.B {r|w}
specifies if the message is read or write
@@ -141,6 +144,29 @@ decrease value by 1 until end of message (i.e. 0xff- means 0xff, 0xfe, 0xfd, ...
p
use value as seed for an 8 bit pseudo random sequence (i.e. 0p means 0x00, 0x50, 0xb0, ...)
+.SH "MESSAGE MODIFIER FLAGS"
+.PP
+These optional flags can be used to change the handling of a message when it is sent on the bus.
+They allow you to deviate from the I2C standard to work around device issues.
+They should be used with care, as they can confuse your I2C bus.
+Note that not all flags (or any) may be supported by your particular hardware and your kernel version.
+
+.TP
+.B i
+ignore NACK from client, treat them as ACK.
+.TP
+.B n
+in a read message, master ACK/NACK bit is skipped.
+.TP
+.B p
+emit a STOP after the message.
+.TP
+.B s
+skip repeated start.
+.TP
+.B t
+toggle read/write bit.
+
.SH EXAMPLES
.PP
On bus 0, from an EEPROM at address 0x50, read 8 byte from offset 0x64
diff --git a/tools/i2ctransfer.c b/tools/i2ctransfer.c
index 4db98e3..446a174 100644
--- a/tools/i2ctransfer.c
+++ b/tools/i2ctransfer.c
@@ -52,9 +52,16 @@ static void help(void)
" -V version info\n"
" -y yes to all confirmations\n"
" I2CBUS is an integer or an I2C bus name\n"
- " DESC describes the transfer in the form: {r|w}LENGTH[@address]\n"
- " 1) read/write-flag 2) LENGTH (range 0-65535, or '?')\n"
- " 3) I2C address (use last one if omitted)\n"
+ " DESC describes the transfer in the form: [inpst]{r|w}LENGTH[@address]\n"
+ " 1) optional message modifier flags, if supported\n"
+ " i: ignore NACK from client\n"
+ " n: no master ACK/NACK bit in a read message\n"
+ " p: emit a STOP after the message\n"
+ " s: skip repeated start\n"
+ " t: toggle read/write bit\n"
+ " 2) mandatory read/write flag\n"
+ " 3) LENGTH (range 0-65535, or '?')\n"
+ " 4) I2C address (use last one if omitted)\n"
" DATA are LENGTH bytes for a write message. They can be shortened by a suffix:\n"
" = (keep value constant until LENGTH)\n"
" + (increase value by 1 until LENGTH)\n"
@@ -66,17 +73,20 @@ static void help(void)
" # i2ctransfer 0 w17@0x50 0x42 0xff-\n");
}
-static int check_funcs(int file)
+static int get_funcs(int file, unsigned long *funcs)
{
- unsigned long funcs;
-
/* check adapter functionality */
- if (ioctl(file, I2C_FUNCS, &funcs) < 0) {
+ if (ioctl(file, I2C_FUNCS, funcs) < 0) {
fprintf(stderr, "Error: Could not get the adapter "
"functionality matrix: %s\n", strerror(errno));
return -1;
}
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static int check_funcs(unsigned long funcs)
+{
if (!(funcs & I2C_FUNC_I2C)) {
fprintf(stderr, MISSING_FUNC_FMT, "I2C transfers");
return -1;
@@ -140,6 +150,85 @@ static int confirm(const char *filename, struct i2c_msg *msgs, __u32 nmsgs)
return 1;
}
+/*
+ * Parse one message flag and check if the adapter supports it.
+ * Return:
+ * 1 if we have the direction of the message (read or write)
+ * 0 if the argument is a valid and supported optional flag
+ * -1 for unsupported flag
+ */
+static int add_flag_if_supported(__u16 *flags, unsigned long funcs, char arg)
+{
+ int mangling = 0, nostart = 0;
+
+ /* Get the message flag from the argument */
+ switch (arg) {
+ /* mandatory direction flag: ends the parsing of flags */
+ case 'r':
+ *flags |= I2C_M_RD;
+ return 1;
+ case 'w':
+ return 1;
+
+ /* optional flags */
+#ifdef I2C_M_IGNORE_NAK
+ case 'i':
+ *flags |= I2C_M_IGNORE_NAK;
+ mangling = 1;
+ break;
+#endif
+#ifdef I2C_M_NO_RD_ACK
+ case 'n':
+ *flags |= I2C_M_NO_RD_ACK;
+ mangling = 1;
+ break;
+#endif
+#ifdef I2C_M_STOP
+ case 'p':
+ *flags |= I2C_M_STOP;
+ mangling = 1;
+ break;
+#endif
+#ifdef I2C_M_NOSTART
+ case 's':
+ *flags |= I2C_M_NOSTART;
+ nostart = 1;
+ break;
+#endif
+#ifdef I2C_M_REV_DIR_ADDR
+ case 't':
+ *flags |= I2C_M_REV_DIR_ADDR;
+ mangling = 1;
+ break;
+#endif
+
+ default:
+ fprintf(stderr, "Error: Unsupported flag '%c'\n", arg);
+ return -1;
+ }
+
+ /* Check that the adapter supports the requested flags */
+#ifdef I2C_FUNC_PROTOCOL_MANGLING
+ if (funcs & I2C_FUNC_PROTOCOL_MANGLING)
+ mangling = 0;
+#endif
+ if (mangling) {
+ fprintf(stderr, MISSING_FUNC_FMT, "protocol mangling");
+ return -1;
+ }
+
+#ifdef I2C_FUNC_NOSTART
+ if (funcs & I2C_FUNC_NOSTART)
+ nostart = 0;
+#endif
+ if (nostart) {
+ fprintf(stderr, MISSING_FUNC_FMT, "repeated start skipping");
+ return -1;
+ }
+
+ return 0;
+}
+
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
char filename[20];
@@ -148,6 +237,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
struct i2c_msg msgs[I2C_RDRW_IOCTL_MAX_MSGS];
enum parse_state state = PARSE_GET_DESC;
unsigned int buf_idx = 0;
+ unsigned long funcs;
memset(msgs, 0, sizeof(msgs));
@@ -182,7 +272,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
exit(1);
file = open_i2c_dev(i2cbus, filename, sizeof(filename), 0);
- if (file < 0 || check_funcs(file))
+ if (file < 0 || get_funcs(file, &funcs) || check_funcs(funcs))
exit(1);
while (optind < argc) {
@@ -191,6 +281,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
__u16 flags;
__u8 data, *buf;
char *end;
+ int ret;
if (nmsgs == I2C_RDRW_IOCTL_MAX_MSGS) {
fprintf(stderr, "Error: Too many messages (max: %d)\n",
@@ -202,11 +293,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
case PARSE_GET_DESC:
flags = 0;
- switch (*arg_ptr++) {
- case 'r': flags |= I2C_M_RD; break;
- case 'w': break;
- default:
- fprintf(stderr, "Error: Invalid direction\n");
+ for (ret = 0; *arg_ptr && !ret; arg_ptr++) {
+ ret = add_flag_if_supported(&flags, funcs, *arg_ptr);
+ if (ret < 0)
+ goto err_out_with_arg;
+ }
+ if (ret != 1) {
+ fprintf(stderr, "Error: Missing direction flag 'r' or 'w'\n");
goto err_out_with_arg;
}
--
2.52.0
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-01-27 9:26 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 5+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-01-27 9:25 [PATCH i2c-tools v3 0/2] Add support for message modifier flags Benoît Monin
2026-01-27 9:25 ` [PATCH i2c-tools v3 1/2] i2cdetect: Display mangling and nostart support Benoît Monin
2026-01-27 9:25 ` Benoît Monin [this message]
2026-02-17 12:13 ` [PATCH i2c-tools v3 0/2] Add support for message modifier flags Jean Delvare
2026-03-23 9:12 ` Benoît Monin
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