From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Carl-Daniel Hailfinger Subject: Re: [RFC] Online firmware upgrade in non-embedded systems Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:43:58 +0200 Message-ID: <4CA3429E.4070104@gmx.net> References: <1285696787.2282.45.camel@achroite.uk.solarflarecom.com> <4CA26F35.6060408@gmx.net> <1285763700.2283.6.camel@achroite.uk.solarflarecom.com> <4CA334FA.2080707@gmx.net> <1285765850.2283.15.camel@achroite.uk.solarflarecom.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: netdev , linux-kernel , linux-mtd , sf-linux-drivers , flashrom To: Ben Hutchings Return-path: Received: from mailout-de.gmx.net ([213.165.64.22]:44946 "HELO mail.gmx.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-FAIL) by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id S1756336Ab0I2NoA (ORCPT ); Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:44:00 -0400 In-Reply-To: <1285765850.2283.15.camel@achroite.uk.solarflarecom.com> Sender: netdev-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: On 29.09.2010 15:10, Ben Hutchings wrote: > On Wed, 2010-09-29 at 14:45 +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote: > >> On 29.09.2010 14:35, Ben Hutchings wrote: >> >>> On Wed, 2010-09-29 at 00:41 +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote: >>> >>> >>>> [adding flashrom@flashrom.org to CC, senders will be whitelisted after a >>>> short delay] >>>> >>>> On 28.09.2010 19:59, Ben Hutchings wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>>> Network and disk controllers normally have at least some firmware in >>>>> flash to support their use as boot devices. [...] >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> Given that the flashrom utility (GPLv2) >>>> supports flashing many network cards, SATA/PATA controllers, graphics >>>> cards, and of course the main system firmware/BIOS/EFI, and it does that >>>> from userspace without any kernel support, >>>> >>>> >>> [...] >>> >>> I'm looking for a clean solution, not a hack. >>> >>> >> What would qualify as a clean solution? >> > > One where hardware access is mediated by the kernel, and doesn't involve > unloading or potentially conflicting with the driver for that hardware. > flashrom can ask the kernel driver to "please stop accessing flash". No unloading needed, no conflict in place. >> And is cross-platform code one of your goals? >> > > Not at this level. At the application level, yes, but we already have a > working application so I'm not interested in using flashrom for that. > I see. Just because I'm interested in how other flashing applications solve this: Does that application work on *BSD as well? And could you tell me the name of the app so I can take a look at it? Thanks. Regards, Carl-Daniel -- http://www.hailfinger.org/