Re: [PATCH net-next v7 1/5] rust: core abstractions for network PHY drivers

Benno Lossin
2023-10-27T22:51:11Z

On 10/28/23 00:21, Boqun Feng wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 27, 2023 at 09:19:38PM +0000, Benno Lossin wrote:
>> We need to be careful here, since doing this creates a reference
>> `&bindings::phy_device` which asserts that it is immutable. That is not
>> the case, since the C side might change it at any point (this is the
>> reason we wrap things in `Opaque`, since that allows mutatation even
>> through sharde references).
>>
>> I did not notice this before, but this means we cannot use the `link`
>> function from bindgen, since that takes `&self`. We would need a
>> function that takes `*const Self` instead.
>>
>
> Hmm... but does it mean even `set_speed()` has the similar issue?
>
> let phydev: *mut phy_device = self.0.get();
> unsafe { (*phydev).speed = ...; }

No that should be fine, take a look at the MIR output of the following
code [1]:

struct Foo {
a: usize,
b: usize,
}

fn foo(ptr: *mut Foo) {
unsafe { (*ptr).b = 0; }
}

fn bar(ptr: *mut Foo) {
unsafe { (&mut *ptr).b = 0; }
}

Aside from some alignment checking, foo's MIR looks like this:

bb1: {
((*_1).1: usize) = const 0_usize;
return;
}

And bar's MIR like this:

bb1: {
_2 = &mut (*_1);
((*_2).1: usize) = const 0_usize;
return;
}

[1]: https://play.rust-lang.org/?version=stable&mode=debug&edition=2021&gist=f7c4d87bf29a64af0acc09ff75d3716d

So I think that is fine, but maybe Gary has something else to say about it.

> The `(*phydev)` creates a `&mut` IIUC. So we need the following maybe?
>
> let phydev: *mut phy_device = self.0.get();
> unsafe { *addr_mut_of!((*phydev).speed) = ...; }
>
> because at least from phylib core guarantee, we know no one accessing
> `speed` in the same time. However, yes, bit fields are tricky...

--
Cheers,
Benno