Re: [PATCH 1/1] powerpc/ps3: Fix error return code in ps3_register_devices()

[Geoff Levand <geoff@infradead.org>]

Hi,

On 5/20/21 5:20 AM, Michael Ellerman wrote:
> Zhen Lei <thunder.leizhen@huawei.com> writes:
>> When call ps3_start_probe_thread() failed, further initialization should
>> be stopped and the returned error code should be propagated.
...
>> --- a/arch/powerpc/platforms/ps3/device-init.c
>>  
>>  	result = ps3_start_probe_thread(PS3_BUS_TYPE_STORAGE);
>> +	if (result < 0)
>> +		return result;
> 
> If you bail out here you skip:
> 
>>  	ps3_register_vuart_devices();
> 
> Which I suspect means there will be no console output?
> 
> Presumably the system won't boot if the probe thread fails, but it might
> at least print an oops, whereas if we return we might get nothing at
> all. Though I'm just guessing, I don't know this code that well.

That probe is for the storage devices (PS3_BUS_TYPE_STORAGE).

There are cases where the system is usable even if the storage
devices are not available, for example, when using an NFS root
filesystem.

ps3_start_probe_thread was made to be quite verbose on error
to make up for it's return value not being checked.

> Anyway please leave this code alone unless you're willing to test your
> changes, or at least provide a more thorough justification for them.

Agreed, this change should not be merged.

-Geoff