[PATCH v2 ath-current 0/2]] wifi: ath11k: add usecase firmware handling based on device compatible

[PATCH v2 ath-current 0/2]] wifi: ath11k: add usecase firmware handling based on device compatible

[Miaoqing Pan]

The 'firmware-name' property was introduced to allow end-users and
integrators to select use-case-specific firmware for the WCN6855.
But for M.2 WLAN chips, there is no suitable DTS node to specify
the 'firmware-name' property. In addition, assigning firmware for
the M.2 PCIe interface causes chips that do not use use-case-specific
firmware to fail. Therefore, abandoning the approach of specifying
firmware in DTS. As an alternative, propose a static lookup table
mapping device compatible to firmware names.

The driver has removed all support for firmware-name, and no upstream
Device Tree files reference this property. Therefore, this patch
removes the property from the binding and marks it as obsolete.

This is a DT ABI-breaking change, but safe since there are no in-tree
users.

---
v2:
- Drops `firmware-name` from completely.
- Updates the commit message to clearly state that the property is
  obsolete and the change is ABI-breaking but safe for upstream.
---

Miaoqing Pan (2):
  wifi: ath11k: add usecase firmware handling based on device compatible
  dt-bindings: net: wireless: ath11k-pci: remove obsolete firmware-name
    property

 .../net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml         |  6 ---
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.c        | 37 ++++++++++++++++++-
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.h        |  7 ++--
 3 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)


base-commit: c99ebb6132595b4b288a413981197eb076547c5a
-- 
2.34.1

[PATCH v2 ath-current 1/2] wifi: ath11k: add usecase firmware handling based on device compatible

[Miaoqing Pan]

For M.2 WLAN chips, there is no suitable DTS node to specify the
firmware-name property. In addition, assigning firmware for the
M.2 PCIe interface causes chips that do not use usecase specific
firmware to fail. Therefore, abandoning the approach of specifying
firmware in DTS. As an alternative, propose a static lookup table
mapping device compatible to firmware names. Currently, only WCN6855
HW2.1 requires this.

For details on usecase specific firmware, see:
https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250522013444.1301330-3-miaoqing.pan@oss.qualcomm.com/.

Tested-on: WCN6855 hw2.1 PCI WLAN.HSP.1.1-04685-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_IOE-1

Fixes: edbbc647c4f3 ("wifi: ath11k: support usercase-specific firmware overrides")
Reviewed-by: Baochen Qiang <baochen.qiang@oss.qualcomm.com>
Signed-off-by: Miaoqing Pan <miaoqing.pan@oss.qualcomm.com>
---
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.c | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.h |  7 +++--
 2 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.c
index 812686173ac8..a4a3a65c7752 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.c
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause-Clear
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2018-2019 The Linux Foundation. All rights reserved.
- * Copyright (c) 2021-2025 Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
  */
 
@@ -997,6 +996,42 @@ static const struct dmi_system_id ath11k_pm_quirk_table[] = {
 	{}
 };
 
+static const struct __ath11k_core_usecase_firmware_table {
+	u32 hw_rev;
+	const char *compatible;
+	const char *firmware_name;
+} ath11k_core_usecase_firmware_table[] = {
+	{ ATH11K_HW_WCN6855_HW21, "qcom,lemans-evk", "nfa765"},
+	{ ATH11K_HW_WCN6855_HW21, "qcom,monaco-evk", "nfa765"},
+	{ ATH11K_HW_WCN6855_HW21, "qcom,hamoa-iot-evk", "nfa765"},
+	{ /* Sentinel */ }
+};
+
+const char *ath11k_core_get_usecase_firmware(struct ath11k_base *ab)
+{
+	struct device_node *root __free(device_node) = of_find_node_by_path("/");
+	const struct __ath11k_core_usecase_firmware_table *entry = NULL;
+	int i, count = of_property_count_strings(root, "compatible");
+	const char *compatible = NULL;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+		if (of_property_read_string_index(root, "compatible", i,
+						  &compatible) < 0)
+			continue;
+
+		entry = ath11k_core_usecase_firmware_table;
+		while (entry->compatible) {
+			if (ab->hw_rev == entry->hw_rev &&
+			    !strcmp(entry->compatible, compatible))
+				return entry->firmware_name;
+			entry++;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return NULL;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL(ath11k_core_get_usecase_firmware);
+
 void ath11k_fw_stats_pdevs_free(struct list_head *head)
 {
 	struct ath11k_fw_stats_pdev *i, *tmp;
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.h b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.h
index e8780b05ce11..f8fcd897ebd2 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.h
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/core.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause-Clear */
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2018-2019 The Linux Foundation. All rights reserved.
- * Copyright (c) 2021-2025 Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
  */
 
 #ifndef ATH11K_CORE_H
@@ -1275,6 +1275,7 @@ bool ath11k_core_coldboot_cal_support(struct ath11k_base *ab);
 
 const struct firmware *ath11k_core_firmware_request(struct ath11k_base *ab,
 						    const char *filename);
+const char *ath11k_core_get_usecase_firmware(struct ath11k_base *ab);
 
 static inline const char *ath11k_scan_state_str(enum ath11k_scan_state state)
 {
@@ -1325,9 +1326,7 @@ static inline void ath11k_core_create_firmware_path(struct ath11k_base *ab,
 						    const char *filename,
 						    void *buf, size_t buf_len)
 {
-	const char *fw_name = NULL;
-
-	of_property_read_string(ab->dev->of_node, "firmware-name", &fw_name);
+	const char *fw_name = ath11k_core_get_usecase_firmware(ab);
 
 	if (fw_name && strncmp(filename, "board", 5))
 		snprintf(buf, buf_len, "%s/%s/%s/%s", ATH11K_FW_DIR,
-- 
2.34.1

Re: [PATCH v2 ath-current 1/2] wifi: ath11k: add usecase firmware handling based on device compatible

[Krzysztof Kozlowski]

On 14/12/2025 03:52, Miaoqing Pan wrote:
> For M.2 WLAN chips, there is no suitable DTS node to specify the
> firmware-name property. In addition, assigning firmware for the
> M.2 PCIe interface causes chips that do not use usecase specific
> firmware to fail. Therefore, abandoning the approach of specifying
> firmware in DTS. As an alternative, propose a static lookup table
> mapping device compatible to firmware names. Currently, only WCN6855
> HW2.1 requires this.
> 
> For details on usecase specific firmware, see:
> https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250522013444.1301330-3-miaoqing.pan@oss.qualcomm.com/.
> 
> Tested-on: WCN6855 hw2.1 PCI WLAN.HSP.1.1-04685-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_IOE-1
> 
> Fixes: edbbc647c4f3 ("wifi: ath11k: support usercase-specific firmware overrides")
> Reviewed-by: Baochen Qiang <baochen.qiang@oss.qualcomm.com>
> Signed-off-by: Miaoqing Pan <miaoqing.pan@oss.qualcomm.com>
> ---

I already said why it is wrong patch and you did not improve. You also
added tags from reviews of something completely different, which
effectively bypassed my filters. I find it unacceptable.

Let me mark it formally:

NAK

Nacked-by: Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzysztof.kozlowski@oss.qualcomm.com>

Best regards,
Krzysztof

[PATCH v2 ath-current 2/2] dt-bindings: net: wireless: ath11k-pci: remove obsolete firmware-name property

[Miaoqing Pan]

The firmware-name property was introduced to allow end-users and
integrators to select usecase specific firmware for the WCN6855.
However, specifying firmware for an M.2 WLAN module in the Device
Tree is not appropriate. Instead, this functionality will be handled
within the ath11k driver.

The driver has removed all support for firmware-name, and no upstream
Device Tree files reference this property. Therefore, this patch
removes the property from the binding and marks it as obsolete.

This is a DT ABI-breaking change, but safe since there are no in-tree
users.

Acked-by: Rob Herring (Arm) <robh@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Miaoqing Pan <miaoqing.pan@oss.qualcomm.com>
---
 .../devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml   | 6 ------
 1 file changed, 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml
index e34d42a30192..653b319fee88 100644
--- a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml
+++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml
@@ -35,12 +35,6 @@ properties:
       string to uniquely identify variant of the calibration data for designs
       with colliding bus and device ids
 
-  firmware-name:
-    maxItems: 1
-    description:
-      If present, a board or platform specific string used to lookup
-      usecase-specific firmware files for the device.
-
   vddrfacmn-supply:
     description: VDD_RFA_CMN supply regulator handle
 
-- 
2.34.1

Re: [PATCH v2 ath-current 2/2] dt-bindings: net: wireless: ath11k-pci: remove obsolete firmware-name property

[Krzysztof Kozlowski]

On 14/12/2025 03:52, Miaoqing Pan wrote:
> The firmware-name property was introduced to allow end-users and
> integrators to select usecase specific firmware for the WCN6855.
> However, specifying firmware for an M.2 WLAN module in the Device
> Tree is not appropriate. Instead, this functionality will be handled
> within the ath11k driver.
> 
> The driver has removed all support for firmware-name, and no upstream
> Device Tree files reference this property. Therefore, this patch
> removes the property from the binding and marks it as obsolete.

No, it does not mark it obsolete. Point me to the place.

> 
> This is a DT ABI-breaking change, but safe since there are no in-tree
> users.

It's not safe. What about my board using this WiFi? Or Mr. foo's board?

Still NAK, you did not improve it.


> 
> Acked-by: Rob Herring (Arm) <robh@kernel.org>

And that's a fake tag.

Rob never acked such patch! Adding tags for something completely
different is not acceptable.


Nacked-by: Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzysztof.kozlowski@oss.qualcomm.com>

> Signed-off-by: Miaoqing Pan <miaoqing.pan@oss.qualcomm.com>
> ---
>  .../devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml   | 6 ------
>  1 file changed, 6 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml
> index e34d42a30192..653b319fee88 100644
> --- a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml
> +++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml
> @@ -35,12 +35,6 @@ properties:
>        string to uniquely identify variant of the calibration data for designs
>        with colliding bus and device ids
>  
> -  firmware-name:
> -    maxItems: 1
> -    description:
> -      If present, a board or platform specific string used to lookup
> -      usecase-specific firmware files for the device.
> -
>    vddrfacmn-supply:
>      description: VDD_RFA_CMN supply regulator handle
>  


Best regards,
Krzysztof

Re: [PATCH v2 ath-current 2/2] dt-bindings: net: wireless: ath11k-pci: remove obsolete firmware-name property

[Miaoqing Pan]

On 1/13/2026 3:28 PM, Krzysztof Kozlowski wrote:
> On 14/12/2025 03:52, Miaoqing Pan wrote:
>> The firmware-name property was introduced to allow end-users and
>> integrators to select usecase specific firmware for the WCN6855.
>> However, specifying firmware for an M.2 WLAN module in the Device
>> Tree is not appropriate. Instead, this functionality will be handled
>> within the ath11k driver.
>>
>> The driver has removed all support for firmware-name, and no upstream
>> Device Tree files reference this property. Therefore, this patch
>> removes the property from the binding and marks it as obsolete.
> 
> No, it does not mark it obsolete. Point me to the place.
> 
>>
>> This is a DT ABI-breaking change, but safe since there are no in-tree
>> users.
> 
> It's not safe. What about my board using this WiFi? Or Mr. foo's board?
> 
> Still NAK, you did not improve it.
> 
> 

I think it’s necessary to clarify the background here. As you can see 
from the git log, all changes related to ath11k firmware-name were 
submitted by me, and the intention was to allow the lemans-evk, 
monaco-evk, and hamoa-iot-evk boards to specify dedicated firmware for 
the WCN6855 Wi-Fi chip. However, the Wi-Fi‑related DTS nodes for these 
boards have never been submitted upstream, because adding a 
firmware-name property for an M.2 device is not appropriate and would be 
difficult for the community to accept. Therefore, the original approach 
was abandoned.

The alternative solution is to propose a static lookup table that maps 
device compatibles to firmware names. As a result, we have not submitted 
any DTS patches adding firmware-name for those boards to date. This is 
why I believe that removing firmware-name from the bindings is safe.

If this explanation is still not sufficient, please let me know what 
additional steps are required for accepting these two patches. Thank you.

>>
>> Acked-by: Rob Herring (Arm) <robh@kernel.org>
> 
> And that's a fake tag.
> 
> Rob never acked such patch! Adding tags for something completely
> different is not acceptable.
> 
> 
> Nacked-by: Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzysztof.kozlowski@oss.qualcomm.com>
> 
>> Signed-off-by: Miaoqing Pan <miaoqing.pan@oss.qualcomm.com>
>> ---
>>   .../devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml   | 6 ------
>>   1 file changed, 6 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml
>> index e34d42a30192..653b319fee88 100644
>> --- a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml
>> +++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/net/wireless/qcom,ath11k-pci.yaml
>> @@ -35,12 +35,6 @@ properties:
>>         string to uniquely identify variant of the calibration data for designs
>>         with colliding bus and device ids
>>   
>> -  firmware-name:
>> -    maxItems: 1
>> -    description:
>> -      If present, a board or platform specific string used to lookup
>> -      usecase-specific firmware files for the device.
>> -
>>     vddrfacmn-supply:
>>       description: VDD_RFA_CMN supply regulator handle
>>   
> 
> 
> Best regards,
> Krzysztof

Re: [PATCH v2 ath-current 2/2] dt-bindings: net: wireless: ath11k-pci: remove obsolete firmware-name property

[Krzysztof Kozlowski]

On 19/01/2026 02:34, Miaoqing Pan wrote:
> 
> 
> On 1/13/2026 3:28 PM, Krzysztof Kozlowski wrote:
>> On 14/12/2025 03:52, Miaoqing Pan wrote:
>>> The firmware-name property was introduced to allow end-users and
>>> integrators to select usecase specific firmware for the WCN6855.
>>> However, specifying firmware for an M.2 WLAN module in the Device
>>> Tree is not appropriate. Instead, this functionality will be handled
>>> within the ath11k driver.
>>>
>>> The driver has removed all support for firmware-name, and no upstream
>>> Device Tree files reference this property. Therefore, this patch
>>> removes the property from the binding and marks it as obsolete.
>>
>> No, it does not mark it obsolete. Point me to the place.
>>
>>>
>>> This is a DT ABI-breaking change, but safe since there are no in-tree
>>> users.
>>
>> It's not safe. What about my board using this WiFi? Or Mr. foo's board?
>>
>> Still NAK, you did not improve it.
>>
>>
> 
> I think it’s necessary to clarify the background here. As you can see 
> from the git log, all changes related to ath11k firmware-name were 
> submitted by me, and the intention was to allow the lemans-evk, 
> monaco-evk, and hamoa-iot-evk boards to specify dedicated firmware for 
> the WCN6855 Wi-Fi chip. However, the Wi-Fi‑related DTS nodes for these 
> boards have never been submitted upstream, because adding a 
> firmware-name property for an M.2 device is not appropriate and would be 
> difficult for the community to accept. Therefore, the original approach 
> was abandoned.

You added new ABI which can be used by anyone and your commit did not
help me to understand the impact on other users of this ABI.

> 
> The alternative solution is to propose a static lookup table that maps 
> device compatibles to firmware names. As a result, we have not submitted 
> any DTS patches adding firmware-name for those boards to date. This is 
> why I believe that removing firmware-name from the bindings is safe.
> 
> If this explanation is still not sufficient, please let me know what 
> additional steps are required for accepting these two patches. Thank you.

You need to deprecate the property and keep the ABI backwards compatible.

Best regards,
Krzysztof

Re: [PATCH v2 ath-current 2/2] dt-bindings: net: wireless: ath11k-pci: remove obsolete firmware-name property

[Miaoqing Pan]

On 1/19/2026 3:08 PM, Krzysztof Kozlowski wrote:
> On 19/01/2026 02:34, Miaoqing Pan wrote:
>>
>>
>> On 1/13/2026 3:28 PM, Krzysztof Kozlowski wrote:
>>> On 14/12/2025 03:52, Miaoqing Pan wrote:
>>>> The firmware-name property was introduced to allow end-users and
>>>> integrators to select usecase specific firmware for the WCN6855.
>>>> However, specifying firmware for an M.2 WLAN module in the Device
>>>> Tree is not appropriate. Instead, this functionality will be handled
>>>> within the ath11k driver.
>>>>
>>>> The driver has removed all support for firmware-name, and no upstream
>>>> Device Tree files reference this property. Therefore, this patch
>>>> removes the property from the binding and marks it as obsolete.
>>>
>>> No, it does not mark it obsolete. Point me to the place.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> This is a DT ABI-breaking change, but safe since there are no in-tree
>>>> users.
>>>
>>> It's not safe. What about my board using this WiFi? Or Mr. foo's board?
>>>
>>> Still NAK, you did not improve it.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I think it’s necessary to clarify the background here. As you can see
>> from the git log, all changes related to ath11k firmware-name were
>> submitted by me, and the intention was to allow the lemans-evk,
>> monaco-evk, and hamoa-iot-evk boards to specify dedicated firmware for
>> the WCN6855 Wi-Fi chip. However, the Wi-Fi‑related DTS nodes for these
>> boards have never been submitted upstream, because adding a
>> firmware-name property for an M.2 device is not appropriate and would be
>> difficult for the community to accept. Therefore, the original approach
>> was abandoned.
> 
> You added new ABI which can be used by anyone and your commit did not
> help me to understand the impact on other users of this ABI.
> 
>>
>> The alternative solution is to propose a static lookup table that maps
>> device compatibles to firmware names. As a result, we have not submitted
>> any DTS patches adding firmware-name for those boards to date. This is
>> why I believe that removing firmware-name from the bindings is safe.
>>
>> If this explanation is still not sufficient, please let me know what
>> additional steps are required for accepting these two patches. Thank you.
> 
> You need to deprecate the property and keep the ABI backwards compatible.
> 

Ok, will update in v3.