Re: [PATCH] ath9k: introduce endian_check module parameter

[Dan Williams <dcbw@redhat.com>]

On Mon, 2018-02-26 at 17:44 +0100, Bas Vermeulen wrote:
> On 26-02-18 17:32, Larry Finger wrote:
> > On 02/26/2018 04:07 AM, Bas Vermeulen wrote:
> > > On 26-02-18 10:54, Kalle Valo wrote:
> > > > Bas Vermeulen <bvermeul@blackstar.nl> writes:
> > > > 
> > > > > A random (little endian eeprom'd) ar9278 card didn't work on
> > > > > my
> > > > > PowerMac G5 without allowing the driver to byte-swap the
> > > > > eeprom.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Introduce a module parameter endian_check to allow this to
> > > > > happen,
> > > > > and the PCIe card to function correctly on BE powerpc.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Signed-off-by: Bas Vermeulen <bvermeul@blackstar.nl>
> > > > > ---
> > > > >   drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/init.c | 6 +++++-
> > > > >   1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> > > > > 
> > > > > diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/init.c 
> > > > > b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/init.c
> > > > > index fa58a32227f5..421039dc060a 100644
> > > > > --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/init.c
> > > > > +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/init.c
> > > > > @@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ static int ath9k_ps_enable;
> > > > >   module_param_named(ps_enable, ath9k_ps_enable, int, 0444);
> > > > >   MODULE_PARM_DESC(ps_enable, "Enable WLAN PowerSave");
> > > > > +static int ath9k_endian_check;
> > > > > +module_param_named(endian_check, ath9k_endian_check, int,
> > > > > 0444);
> > > > > +MODULE_PARM_DESC(endian_check, "Check EEPROM for endianness 
> > > > > compatibility");
> > > > >   #ifdef CONFIG_ATH9K_CHANNEL_CONTEXT
> > > > >   int ath9k_use_chanctx;
> > > > > @@ -587,7 +590,8 @@ static int ath9k_of_init(struct ath_softc
> > > > > *sc)
> > > > >           ether_addr_copy(common->macaddr, mac);
> > > > >       ah->ah_flags &= ~AH_USE_EEPROM;
> > > > > -    ah->ah_flags |= AH_NO_EEP_SWAP;
> > > > > +    if (!ath9k_endian_check)
> > > > > +        ah->ah_flags |= AH_NO_EEP_SWAP;
> > > > 
> > > > A bit annoying to have a module parameter, isn't there any
> > > > automatic 
> > > > way
> > > > to detect/try this? But on the other hand I guess this isn't a
> > > > common
> > > > problem as nobody has reported this before?
> > > 
> > > There is an automatic way to detect this, but that is disabled by
> > > the 
> > > AH_NO_EEP_SWAP flag.
> > > The platform initialisation does not set this flag if the 
> > > endian_check member of pdata is set
> > > to true, but there is no way to not set this when using a device 
> > > tree. I used a module
> > > parameter instead of a device tree variable because I don't know
> > > of a 
> > > way to modify the
> > > device tree my PowerMac boots with.
> > 
> > Shouldn't you be able to set ath9k_endian_check inside #ifdef 
> > __BIG_ENDIAN ... #endif in the initialization? I think that would 
> > achieve the same functionality without requiring the user to set a 
> > module parameter.
> 
> I could have done that, but didn't want to change the default
> behaviour. 
> This patch keeps the
> current behaviour on all platforms if the module parameter is not
> set. I 
> don't have the means
> to test mips and other platforms this could be used on. I don't mind 
> having to set a module
> parameter, I mind not being able to change the behaviour

Still, module parameters are an awful user experience because you need
to know that they exist, what they do, and whether you need it or not. 
It doesn't just work.

Is there no way to autodetect the endian-ness of the firmware itself,
and if the known machine endian-ness isn't the same then swap?  This
seems like a solvable problem.

Dan