[PATCH v3] Input: ads7846 - don't use scratch for tx_buf when clearing register

Kris Bahnsen
2026-04-30T17:37:48Z

The workaround for XPT2046 clears the command register, giving the
touchscreen controller a NOP. The change incorrectly re-uses the
req->scratch variable which is used as rx_buf for xfer[5], so by
the time xfer[6] occurs, the contents of req->scratch may not be
0. It was found that the touchscreen controller can end up in
a completely unresponsive state due to it being given a command
the driver does not expect.

Instead, rely on the spi_transfer behavior of tx_buf being NULL to
transmit all 0 bits and use the scratch variable for the rx_buf for
both the 1 byte command to and 2 byte response from the controller.

This change was tested on real TSC2046 and ADS7843 controllers,
but not the XPT2046 the workaround was originally created for.
Confirming that the original modification to clear the command
register does not impact either real controller.

Fixes: 781a07da9bb94 ("Input: ads7846 - add dummy command register clearing cycle")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Co-developed-by: Mark Featherston <mark@embeddedTS.com>
Signed-off-by: Mark Featherston <mark@embeddedTS.com>
Signed-off-by: Kris Bahnsen <kris@embeddedTS.com>
---

V1 -> V2: Don't use rx_buf when clearing command reg
V2 -> V3: Modify original 2 xfer command to eliminate dev_err()
output on xfer with len and NULL buffers

drivers/input/touchscreen/ads7846.c | 3 +--
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/input/touchscreen/ads7846.c b/drivers/input/touchscreen/ads7846.c
index 4b39f7212d35c..488bcc8393293 100644
--- a/drivers/input/touchscreen/ads7846.c
+++ b/drivers/input/touchscreen/ads7846.c
@@ -403,8 +403,7 @@ static int ads7846_read12_ser(struct device *dev, unsigned command)
spi_message_add_tail(&req->xfer[5], &req->msg);

/* clear the command register */
- req->scratch = 0;
- req->xfer[6].tx_buf = &req->scratch;
+ req->xfer[6].rx_buf = &req->scratch;
req->xfer[6].len = 1;
spi_message_add_tail(&req->xfer[6], &req->msg);

base-commit: dd6c438c3e64a5ff0b5d7e78f7f9be547803ef1b
--
2.34.1