From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1750761AbWDSNhU (ORCPT ); Wed, 19 Apr 2006 09:37:20 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1750765AbWDSNhU (ORCPT ); Wed, 19 Apr 2006 09:37:20 -0400 Received: from coyote.holtmann.net ([217.160.111.169]:9414 "EHLO mail.holtmann.net") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1750761AbWDSNhT (ORCPT ); Wed, 19 Apr 2006 09:37:19 -0400 Subject: Re: [RFC] binary firmware and modules From: Marcel Holtmann To: Mark Lord Cc: Duncan Sands , Jon Masters , Linux Kernel In-Reply-To: <44463B11.6030005@rtr.ca> References: <1145088656.23134.54.camel@localhost.localdomain> <200604181537.47183.duncan.sands@math.u-psud.fr> <1145370171.10255.58.camel@localhost> <200604181659.04657.duncan.sands@math.u-psud.fr> <1145374878.10255.69.camel@localhost> <44463B11.6030005@rtr.ca> Content-Type: text/plain Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 15:37:22 +0200 Message-Id: <1145453842.3564.16.camel@localhost> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Evolution 2.6.1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Hi Mark, > > I personally prefer full firmware names. This makes the dependency easy > > and even an end user can call modinfo and see what firmware is expected > > by a certain driver (without looking at the source code). > > How does one handle the case of updated firmware from the manufacturer, > which requires *no* driver changes? If the driver has all of the previously > known names/versions hardcoded, then would it refuse to use the new stuff? if no driver change is needed, then you simply can replace the firmware file and reload the driver. With the BlueFRITZ! USB driver we did this a bunch of times and it worked out perfectly. The firmware name in this case is only a placeholder. Regards Marcel