Re: [bnx2] [Regression 4.8] Driver loading fails without firmware

[Paul Menzel <pmenzel@molgen.mpg.de>]

Dear Baoquan,


Am Samstag, den 29.10.2016, 10:55 +0800 schrieb Baoquan He:
> On 10/27/16 at 03:21pm, Paul Menzel wrote:

> > > > Baoquan, could you please fix this regression. My suggestion is, that you
> > > > add the old code back, but check if the firmware has been loaded. If it
> > > > hasn’t, load it again.
> > > > 
> > > > That way, people can update their Linux kernel, and it continues working
> > > > without changing the initramfs, or anything else.
> > > 
> > > I saw your mail but I am also not familiar with bnx2 driver. As the
> > > commit log says I just tried to make bnx2 driver reset itself earlier.
> > > 
> > > So you did a git bisect and found this commit caused the regression,
> > > right? If yes, and network developers have no action, I will look into
> > > the code and see if I have idea to fix it.
> > 
> > Well, I looked through the commits and found that one, which would explain
> > the changed behavior.
> > 
> > To be sure, and to follow your request, I took Linux 4.8.4 and reverted your
> > commit (attached). Then I deleted the firmware again from the initramfs, and
> > rebooted. The devices showed up just fine as before.
> > 
> > So to summarize, the commit is indeed the culprit.

> Sorry for this.
> 
> Could you tell the steps to reproduce? I will find a machine with bnx2
> NIC and check if there's other ways.

Well, delete the bnx2 firmware files from the initramfs, and start the
system.

Did you read my proposal, to try to load the firmware twice, that means,
basically revert only the deleted lines of your commit, and add an
additional check?


Kind regards,

Paul