Re: [PATCH 1/2] bnx2: factor out gzip unpacker

Krzysztof Oledzki
2007-09-21T20:09:44Z

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On Fri, 21 Sep 2007, Denys Vlasenko wrote:

> On Friday 21 September 2007 19:36, Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu wrote:
>> On Fri, 21 Sep 2007 19:05:23 BST, Denys Vlasenko said:
>>
>>> I plan to use gzip compression on following drivers' firmware,
>>> if patches will be accepted:
>>>
>>> text data bss dec hex filename
>>> 17653 109968 240 127861 1f375 drivers/net/acenic.o
>>> 6628 120448 4 127080 1f068 drivers/net/dgrs.o
>>> ^^^^^^
>>
>> Should this be redone to use the existing firmware loading framework to
>> load the firmware instead?
>
> Not in every case.
>
> For example, bnx2 maintainer says that driver and
> firmware are closely tied for his driver. IOW: you upgrade kernel
> and your NIC is not working anymore.
Firmware may come with a kernel. We have a "install modules", we can also
add "install firmware".

> Another argument is to make kernel be able to bring up NICs
> without needing firmware images in initramfs/initrd/hard drive.

It is not possible to bring up things like FC or WiFi without firmware,
what special is in classic NICs?

Best regards,

Krzysztof Olędzki