Re: [PATCH 02/53] IB/qib: Add Makefile

Roland Dreier
2009-11-24T03:59:19Z

> | > +ib_qib-$(CONFIG_PCI_MSI) += qib_iba6120.o
> |
> | Seems you put the 6120 in the module device table even if PCI_MSI isn't
> | set... does the driver build without MSI enabled?
>
> Yes. It just doesn't work well. It works well enough to tell people
> what the problem is, which is what we wanted.

No, it doesn't even build with CONFIG_PCI_MSI=n (and spews a bunch of
warnings before failing). Seriously, try it.

> | And are you dropping 6110 support (I see no HT_IRQ stuff)? So do we
> | need to keep ipath around for that?
>
> 6110 is out of this driver, and people (customers) are aware that support has
> been dropped. The current (non-verbs) userland software won't work on those
> boards any longer, and customers were using them primarily for non-verbs
> MPI.
>
> The ipath driver has some significant problems with verbs, and those
> problems have been fixed based on the significant restructuring and
> rewrites in the ib_qib driver, so it's unlikely that any customer would
> want to continue to use the ib_ipath driver in any case.

I don't think we can drop 6110 support so blithely. I just did a quick
check, and brand-new HTX HCAs still seem readily available on ebay, so I
think it will be a while before they're totally gone. Since we have the
driver, we might as well let someone with a few HTX HCAs and a Topspin
90 they got off ebay for a few hundred bucks use the latest Fedora or
whatever. The ideal plan would be to strip all the non-HTX device IDs
out of ib_ipath, and even better get rid of the unneeded code too.

- R.