From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Ben Hutchings Subject: Re: [PATCH] be2net: Implementation of request_firmware interface. Date: Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:20:04 +0100 Message-ID: <1246803604.3898.6.camel@deadeye> References: <20090702111820.GA21085@serverengines.com> <1246566808.9821.2.camel@deadeye> <20090705121637.GA3627@serverengines.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: netdev@vger.kernel.org, davem@davemloft.net To: Sarveshwar Bandi Return-path: Received: from shadbolt.e.decadent.org.uk ([88.96.1.126]:57621 "EHLO shadbolt.e.decadent.org.uk" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1753583AbZGEOUF (ORCPT ); Sun, 5 Jul 2009 10:20:05 -0400 In-Reply-To: <20090705121637.GA3627@serverengines.com> Sender: netdev-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: On Sun, 2009-07-05 at 17:46 +0530, Sarveshwar Bandi wrote: > I understand that most drivers use request_firmware() to load volatile > firmware. I do see that there are other nic drivers that use this inferface to > flash persistent firmware. > > We have other tools for offline flashing; but there is requirement > to flash f/w through driver without having to use other proprietary tools. The firmware blob is proprietary and has to be distributed separately from the kernel. So does it really matter that you have to distribute a special tool as well? (Based on requirements specified by major OEMs, I have implemented firmware update through the sfc driver (MDIO and MTD interfaces) but under the control of a separate tool.) > Since the firmware load happens only when there is a version mismatch with > f/w in /lib/firmware, Users who want to avoid automatic flashing at boot time > can choose not to copy the f/w file under /lib/firmware. [...] Is there a way of loading the firmware into the controller's RAM but not writing it to flash? That ought to be the default behaviour. Ben. -- Ben Hutchings, Senior Software Engineer, Solarflare Communications Not speaking for my employer; that's the marketing department's job. They asked us to note that Solarflare product names are trademarked.