From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Bill Davidsen Subject: Re: [RFC] ethtool semantics Date: Wed, 09 Jun 2004 17:09:04 -0400 Sender: netdev-bounce@oss.sgi.com Message-ID: <40C77C70.5070409@tmr.com> References: <20040607212804.GA17012@k3.hellgate.ch> <20040607145723.41da5783.davem@redhat.com> <20040608210809.GA10542@k3.hellgate.ch> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: "David S. Miller" , jgarzik@pobox.com, netdev@oss.sgi.com, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Return-path: To: Roger Luethi In-Reply-To: <20040608210809.GA10542@k3.hellgate.ch> Errors-to: netdev-bounce@oss.sgi.com List-Id: netdev.vger.kernel.org Roger Luethi wrote: > On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 14:57:23 -0700, David S. Miller wrote: > >>On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 23:28:04 +0200 >>Roger Luethi wrote: >> >> >>>What is the correct response if a user passes ethtool speed or duplex >>>arguments while autoneg is on? Some possible answers are: >>> > > [...] > >>speed and duplex fields should be silently ignored in this case > > > It may not matter much because few people care about forced media these > days. And it is debatable whether trying to guess the users intention > is a good idea (we lack means for users to manipulate autoneg results > via advertisted values but that's no big deal). It does sometimes matter, because even these days we sometimes see a case where a brand name switch (like Cisco) and a brand name card (Intel, 3COM) negotiate but just don't "work right" later. In those cases forcing on both ends or just the NIC end results in a fully functional connection. We usually do this with module parameters, but do use ethtool (or mii-tool) on occasion. > > However, "silently ignoring" strikes me as a very poor choice, in > stark contrast to Unix/Linux tradition. A user issues a command which > cannot be executed and gets the same response that is used to indicate > success!? What school of user interface design is that? How is that > not confusing users? Yah. Seeing this happen while autonegotiation is in progress is a small and unlikely window of course! -- -bill davidsen (davidsen@tmr.com) "The secret to procrastination is to put things off until the last possible moment - but no longer" -me