From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from nommos.sslcatacombnetworking.com (nommos.sslcatacombnetworking.com [67.18.224.114]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (Client did not present a certificate) by ozlabs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CF5FBDDE02 for ; Thu, 8 Feb 2007 09:15:53 +1100 (EST) In-Reply-To: <45CA4DBC.7090401@freescale.com> References: <45CA41F7.6020700@freescale.com> <1170883956.2620.305.camel@localhost.localdomain> <45CA47AB.1000302@freescale.com> <0EF1DDFB-E590-422C-8FA6-0FD643E68F49@kernel.crashing.org> <45CA4DBC.7090401@freescale.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v752.2) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Message-Id: <31D17474-FA61-4E0A-9114-FB6C965451FF@kernel.crashing.org> From: Kumar Gala Subject: Re: mac-address vs. local-mac-address Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 16:14:58 -0600 To: Timur Tabi Cc: linuxppc-dev List-Id: Linux on PowerPC Developers Mail List List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , On Feb 7, 2007, at 4:07 PM, Timur Tabi wrote: > Kumar Gala wrote: > >> The problem with u-boot is that the correct way would be to use >> local-mac-address for what's compiled into u-boot and mac-address >> if someone does a 'setenv' to modify the mac address. The >> question is anyone really going to care that much. > > I don't think the compiled-in MAC address should be used at all. > > For most boards, the compiled-in option is just some random MAC > address. When the board is shipped, the manufacturer creates his > own set of environment variables and overrides what's stored on flash. And where does the mfg store these? > I actually think that storing a MAC address in a board > configuration for or a DTS is a bad idea, because MAC addresses are > supposed to be unique for each Ethernet device, and storing a fixed > value in a source file breaks that. However, that's a separate > issue. I was just trying to stress that the compiled-in MAC > address is of no value. Ok, so 'compiled-in' wasn't the best choice. What I meant is 'local- mac-address' is the MAC address u-boot decides to use when it boots before any user interaction. (this may be the compiled-in one, or one from flash env settings, or whatever other source the board code decides). - k