linux-kernel - Re: [Patch] IBM Real-Time "SMI Free" mode driver -v7

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Message-ID: <20101021144234.GA23552@srcf.ucam.org>
Date:	Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:42:34 +0100
From:	Matthew Garrett <mjg59@...f.ucam.org>
To:	Vernon Mauery <vernux@...ibm.com>
Cc:	Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@...otime.net>,
	Linux Documentation <linux-doc@...r.kernel.org>,
	Platform driver x86 <platform-driver-x86@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [Patch] IBM Real-Time "SMI Free" mode driver -v7

On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 07:38:21AM -0700, Vernon Mauery wrote:
> On 21-Oct-2010 03:25 PM, Matthew Garrett wrote:
>> Oops, sorry! I mean running on older kernels.
>
> Do older kernels not have DMI support?  I would think that if an  
> enterprise distribution wanted this driver they would likely already  
> have DMI support backported as well.

I mean that they may run the current driver on newer hardware that isn't 
in the DMI table, and that may be the only thing preventing it from 
working.

>> I'd suggest using DMI to verify that it's an IBM, and perhaps also using
>> DMI to check that it's a server or blade rather than a laptop or
>> desktop. After that you could just check the ebda rather than having to
>> have an entry for every specific machine.
>
> I went for a better safe than sorry route.  Before I added the DMI  
> checking I had some reports of this getting loaded on non-IBM hardware  
> and it came up with some nasty error messages.  I figured since I knew  
> exactly which platforms have support, I could just limit the driver to  
> those.  Then there is the force parameter that allows a user to ignore  
> the DMI data and try to load the driver anyway.

It's preferable to have the driver be able to support future hardware 
built to the same spec without having to add extra IDs. It's easy to 
make sure that you're loading on an IBM server - are there any of these 
that have the _RTL_ header but will break?

-- 
Matthew Garrett | mjg59@...f.ucam.org
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