netdev - RE: [v2,PCI] move ICHx GbE NVM write-protection from e1000e to PCI quirk

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Date:	Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:56:18 -0800
From:	"Allan, Bruce W" <bruce.w.allan@...el.com>
To:	David Miller <davem@...emloft.net>
CC:	"csnook@...hat.com" <csnook@...hat.com>,
	"Kirsher, Jeffrey T" <jeffrey.t.kirsher@...el.com>,
	"netdev@...r.kernel.org" <netdev@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: RE: [v2,PCI] move ICHx GbE NVM write-protection from e1000e to PCI
 quirk

Hmmm, I'll look into it.  Thanks.

>-----Original Message-----
>From: David Miller [mailto:davem@...emloft.net]
>Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 12:21 PM
>To: Allan, Bruce W
>Cc: csnook@...hat.com; Kirsher, Jeffrey T; netdev@...r.kernel.org
>Subject: Re: [v2,PCI] move ICHx GbE NVM write-protection from e1000e to
>PCI quirk
>
>From: "Allan, Bruce W" <bruce.w.allan@...el.com>
>Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:02:32 -0800
>
>> Well, no, not for every device with an NVRAM; just those LOM parts
>> in the ICH-based family of products that has an unprotected region of
>> NVRAM and a not-so-difficult set of steps necessary to corrupt the
>> NVRAM by taking advantage of that.  By leaving the write-protection in
>> the driver, the NVRAM can still be damaged before the driver loads (as
>> seen with corruptions from ftrace in 2.6.27) or if the driver is never
>> loaded.
>>
>> Once the NVRAM is write-protected the driver cannot revoke that
>> protection, only a system reset will do that.  The kernel command
>> line option to disable the write protection is so that if/when a
>> user needs to change a value in the NVRAM it can still be done.
>
>It seems to me the ftrace case could have triggered before PCI
>even initializes.
>
>Why not, therefore, write a very-early-initcall mini-driver that
>does this instead?
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