linux-kernel - Re: (EXT) Re: [PATCH 1/4] pwm: pca9685: remove unused duty

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Date:   Wed, 26 Feb 2020 18:03:02 +0100
From:   Matthias Schiffer <matthias.schiffer@...tq-group.com>
To:     Uwe Kleine-König 
        <u.kleine-koenig@...gutronix.de>
Cc:     thierry.reding@...il.com, linux-pwm@...r.kernel.org,
        linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: (EXT) Re: [PATCH 1/4] pwm: pca9685: remove unused duty_cycle
 struct element

On Wed, 2020-02-26 at 16:10 +0100, Uwe Kleine-König wrote:
> Hello Matthias,
> 
> as you seem to have this hardware on your desk, it would be great if
> you
> could answer the following questions:
> 
>  - Does the hardware complete the currently running period before
>    applying a new setting?

The datasheet claims:

> Because the loading of the LEDn_ON and LEDn_OFF registers is via the
> I 2 C-bus, and
> asynchronous to the internal oscillator, we want to ensure that we do
> not see any visual
> artifacts of changing the ON and OFF values. This is achieved by
> updating the changes at
> the end of the LOW cycle.

My interpretation is that the hardware will complete its period before
applying the new settings. I might check with a scope tomorrow-ish.

>  - Is this racy somehow (i.e. can it happen that when going from
>    duty_cycle/period = 1000/5000 to duty_cycle/period = 4000/10000
> the
>    output is 1000/10000 (or 4000/5000) for one cycle)?

It currently is racy. It should be possible to fix that either by
updating all 4 registers in a single I2C write, or by using the "update
on ACK" mode which requires all 4 registers to be updated before the
new setting is applied (I'm not sure if this mode would require using a
single I2C write as well though).

>  - Does the hardware complete the currently running period before
>    .enabled = false is configured?

As my interpretation is that new settings are applied asynchronously, I
assume that the final running period is completed after .enabled is set
to false.

>  - How does the output pin behave on a disabled PWM. (Usual
> candidates
>    are: freeze where is just happens to be, constant inactive and
>    High-Z).

Constant inactive. This is also the case when the chip is put into
sleep mode. Note that the interpretation of "inactive" depends in the
invert flag in the MODE2 register.

As it turns out, this driver is broken in yet another way I didn't find
before: For changing the global prescaler the chip needs to be put into
sleep mode, but the driver doesn't follow the restart sequence
described in the datasheet when waking it back up. In consequence,
changing the period of one PWM does not only modify the period of all
PWMs (which is bad enough, but can't be avoided with this hardware),
but it also leaves all PWMs disabled...

As this hardware only has a single prescaler for all PWMs, should
changing the period for individual PWMs even be allowed at all? Maybe
only when all other PWMs are inactive?

I could imagine setting it in DTS instead (but I'm not sure what to do
about non-OF users of this driver, for example when configured via
ACPI).

Regards,
Matthias

> 
> Best regards
> Uwe
>