Re: [PATCH net-next 4/4] r8152: Add firmware upload capability for RTL8157/RTL8159

[Birger Koblitz <mail@birger-koblitz.de>]

On 29/04/2026 3:57 am, Andrew Lunn wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 28, 2026 at 05:47:24AM +0200, Birger Koblitz wrote:
>> The RTL8159 requires firmware for its PHY in order to work at
>> connection speeds > 5GBit. Add support for uploading firmware for
>> the PHYs using the existing rtl8152_apply_firmware() function
>> in r8157_hw_phy_cfg() and set up the correct names for the firmware
>> files.
>>
>> If no firmware is found, both the RTL8157 and the RTL8159 will continue
>> to work.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Birger Koblitz <mail@birger-koblitz.de>
>> ---
>>   drivers/net/usb/r8152.c | 15 ++++++++++++++-
>>   1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/drivers/net/usb/r8152.c b/drivers/net/usb/r8152.c
>> index 08cc3c1dae0facb2400890ba4d093c97ed56d40b..56e00fe6f32405ce753df3e03e54a7daaf1a29ac 100644
>> --- a/drivers/net/usb/r8152.c
>> +++ b/drivers/net/usb/r8152.c
>> @@ -4663,10 +4663,11 @@ static bool rtl8152_is_fw_phy_speed_up_ok(struct r8152 *tp, struct fw_phy_speed_
>>   	case RTL_VER_11:
>>   	case RTL_VER_12:
>>   	case RTL_VER_14:
>> -	case RTL_VER_16:
>>   		goto out;
>>   	case RTL_VER_13:
>>   	case RTL_VER_15:
>> +	case RTL_VER_16:
>> +	case RTL_VER_17:
> 
> Is that a bug fix?
> 
> 	Andrew
No, since the RTL8157 (RTL_VER_16) also works in my experiments as 
expected without this change, i.e. without any updated firmware, or 
better the possibility to update the firmware. It is only for the 
RTL8159 where the firmware is necessary to even get 10GBit performance, 
at least for the link-partners I use for testing. My understanding of 
the Realtek "firmware" is that it mainly provides updated calibration 
constants, possibly better calibration routines for interoperability. 
Unlike for many other drivers, the firmware is not necessary to make the 
driver work at all.

Birger