Re: [PATCH] DMI: Decode and save OEM String information

[Bjorn Helgaas <bjorn.helgaas@hp.com>]

On Friday 28 July 2006 06:49, Henrique de Moraes Holschuh wrote:
> On Thu, 27 Jul 2006, Bjorn Helgaas wrote:
> > > > If that's true, isn't it a BIOS defect if this embedded controller isn't
> > > > described via ACPI?
> > > 
> > > The ThinkPad ACPI tables do list the relevant IO ports (0x1600-0x161F)
> > > as reserved, but provide no way to discern what's behind them.
> > 
> > How are they listed?  Maybe an example would help.  Do you mean the
> 
> In the T43, very recent BIOS, it is inside _SB_.PCI0.LPC.SIO, where _HID is
> PNP0C02, and it holds resources to a number of different devices.  Port 1600
> is not even in a block by itself, it is in a block that reserves 0x42 bytes,
> while the EC occupies just 0x1600-0x161F.

And there are no other devices that consume 0x1600-0x161F?  Interesting.
I wonder what Windows does to bind drivers to the LPC devices?  Do they
have to do the same SMBIOS OEM string hack?

> The table (within the driver, for whitelisting) has exactly *one* substring
> for string match, that works for all models since the A31, and maybe even
> earlier ones.  The OEM string table used by IBM is quite stable.

I guess as long as they change the OEM string the same time they change
the EC/accelerometer/battery/kitchen-sink implementation, you're OK :-)
It just feels like living on borrowed time.