PCMCIA still advised as modules?

PCMCIA still advised as modules?

[Steve Snyder]

Back in the 2.4.x kernel days I was advised to build the PCMCIA-related 
drivers (pcmcia_core, ds, yenta_socket) as modules.  There were 
supposedly problem with them being staticly built into the kernel.

Is this still the case?  Are there currently any drawbacks to having the 
PCMCIA modules built into the kernel?

Thanks.

Re: PCMCIA still advised as modules?

[Dominik Brodowski]

On Fri, Jun 10, 2005 at 08:11:17AM -0400, Steve Snyder wrote:
> Back in the 2.4.x kernel days I was advised to build the PCMCIA-related 
> drivers (pcmcia_core, ds, yenta_socket) as modules.  There were 
> supposedly problem with them being staticly built into the kernel.
> 
> Is this still the case?  Are there currently any drawbacks to having the 
> PCMCIA modules built into the kernel?

At least from 2.6.13 on, it will be much easier if you have the PCMCIA
"modules" built into the kernel, as you won't need userspace interaction any
longer (except on old yenta_socket bridges during startup, but that's a
different story). Therefore, I do not see any drawbacks to having the PCMCIA
modules built into the kernel.

	Dominik

Re: PCMCIA still advised as modules?

[Kyle Moffett]

On Jun 10, 2005, at 08:21:05, Dominik Brodowski wrote:
> At least from 2.6.13 on, it will be much easier if you have the PCMCIA
> "modules" built into the kernel, as you won't need userspace  
> interaction any
> longer (except on old yenta_socket bridges during startup, but  
> that's a
> different story). Therefore, I do not see any drawbacks to having  
> the PCMCIA
> modules built into the kernel.

Under such a setup, what is the easiest method to shut down the  
bridge chip
for power savings?  On my Debian laptop where said drivers are  
modular, I can
run "/etc/init.d/pcmcia stop" to unload the module and disable the  
PCMCIA chip,
saving a noticeable amount of power.  Is there some equivalent for  
compiled-in
drivers?  Thanks!


Cheers,
Kyle Moffett

Somone asked my why I work on this free (http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/)
software stuff and not get a real job. Charles Shultz had the best  
answer:

"Why do musicians compose symphonies and poets write poems? They do it
because life wouldn't have any meaning for them if they didn't.  
That's why
I draw cartoons. It's my life." -- Charles Shultz

Re: PCMCIA still advised as modules?

[Dominik Brodowski]

On Sat, Jun 11, 2005 at 05:08:08PM -0400, Kyle Moffett wrote:
> On Jun 10, 2005, at 08:21:05, Dominik Brodowski wrote:
> >At least from 2.6.13 on, it will be much easier if you have the PCMCIA
> >"modules" built into the kernel, as you won't need userspace  
> >interaction any
> >longer (except on old yenta_socket bridges during startup, but  
> >that's a
> >different story). Therefore, I do not see any drawbacks to having  
> >the PCMCIA
> >modules built into the kernel.
> 
> Under such a setup, what is the easiest method to shut down the  
> bridge chip
> for power savings?  On my Debian laptop where said drivers are  
> modular, I can
> run "/etc/init.d/pcmcia stop" to unload the module and disable the  
> PCMCIA chip,
> saving a noticeable amount of power.  Is there some equivalent for  
> compiled-in
> drivers?  Thanks!

You can do "cardctl suspend" or (untested) echo "3" into the "power/state"
file of the relevant device inside the sysfs device tree ("/sys/devices/").

	Dominik

Re: PCMCIA still advised as modules?

[Dick Streefland]

Dominik Brodowski <linux@dominikbrodowski.net> wrote:
| At least from 2.6.13 on, it will be much easier if you have the PCMCIA
| "modules" built into the kernel, as you won't need userspace interaction any
| longer (except on old yenta_socket bridges during startup, but that's a
| different story). Therefore, I do not see any drawbacks to having the PCMCIA
| modules built into the kernel.

At least the aha152x_cs module cannot be compiled into the kernel,
the Kconfig file says: depends on m. Does anybody known what the
problem with this driver is?

-- 
Dick Streefland                      ////                      Altium BV
dick.streefland@altium.nl           (@ @)          http://www.altium.com
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