Re: [PATCH] request_firmware: skip timeout if userspace was not notified

[Javier Pello <javier.pello@urjc.es>]

On Sat, 4 Aug 2007, David Lang wrote:
> what I've been told is that with the drive built-in instead of
> modular you can create a filesystem that has only the firmware
> on it, nothing else, and have the kernel find and load it (no
> userspace software involved)

I'm afraid my understanding of the kernel is not very deep, so
I don't know of this method you're describing.

Anyway, if there's no userspace involved then nothing should
change. The patch I sent only affects the behaviour of the kernel
when it actually tries to send a firmware request to userspace
(and it determines that the request was not received). If the
kernel loads a firmware image without userspace support, it must
do so in a codepath different from request_firmware, whose point
is precisely to send a firmware request and wait for it, and
request_firmware is the only function that effectively changes
with my patch.

Javier