linux-kernel - Re: [Intel-wired-lan] [PATCH] e1000e: add option not to verify NVM checksum

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Message-ID: <45b7a842-02d2-4b9d-851f-022ce2b9e694@jacekk.info>
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2025 20:49:08 +0200
From: Jacek Kowalski <jacek@...ekk.info>
To: Andrew Lunn <andrew@...n.ch>, "Lifshits, Vitaly"
 <vitaly.lifshits@...el.com>
Cc: Tony Nguyen <anthony.l.nguyen@...el.com>,
 Przemek Kitszel <przemyslaw.kitszel@...el.com>,
 Andrew Lunn <andrew+netdev@...n.ch>, "David S. Miller"
 <davem@...emloft.net>, Eric Dumazet <edumazet@...gle.com>,
 Jakub Kicinski <kuba@...nel.org>, Paolo Abeni <pabeni@...hat.com>,
 intel-wired-lan@...ts.osuosl.org, netdev@...r.kernel.org,
 linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [Intel-wired-lan] [PATCH] e1000e: add option not to verify NVM
 checksum

>> From a technical perspective, your patch looks correct. However, if the
>> checksum validation is skipped, there is no way to distinguish between the
>> simple checksum error described above, and actual NVM corruption, which may
>> result in loss of functionality and undefined behavior. This means, that if
>> there is any functional issue with the network adapter on a given system,
>> while checksum validation was suspended by the user, we will not be able to
>> offer support
> 
> We handle this by adding quirks. We know which vendors/products have
> FUBAR checksums, and allow them to be used when the checksum is
> FUBAR. You could do something similar here, add a list of vendors with
> known FUBAR checksums and allow them to be used, but taint the kernel,
> and print a warming that the device is unsupported because the vendor
> messed up the CRC.

Unfortunately at the device level I don't know what is the motherboard 
manufacturer and model to be able to determine whether I have the 
checksum messed up.

I could peek up MAC address in NVM, but even then there is no reliable 
way to know which ranges of MAC addresses are indeed affected.

-- 
Best regards,
   Jacek Kowalski