netdev - RE: [EXTERNAL] Re: [PATCH v2 0/5] Fix prestera driver fail to probe twice

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Message-ID: 
 <BN9PR18MB42517F8E84C8C18078E45C37DB322@BN9PR18MB4251.namprd18.prod.outlook.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:33:40 +0000
From: Elad Nachman <enachman@...vell.com>
To: Andrew Lunn <andrew@...n.ch>
CC: Taras Chornyi <taras.chornyi@...ision.eu>,
        "davem@...emloft.net"
	<davem@...emloft.net>,
        "edumazet@...gle.com" <edumazet@...gle.com>,
        "kuba@...nel.org" <kuba@...nel.org>,
        "pabeni@...hat.com" <pabeni@...hat.com>,
        "kory.maincent@...tlin.com" <kory.maincent@...tlin.com>,
        "thomas.petazzoni@...tlin.com" <thomas.petazzoni@...tlin.com>,
        "miquel.raynal@...tlin.com" <miquel.raynal@...tlin.com>,
        "przemyslaw.kitszel@...el.com" <przemyslaw.kitszel@...el.com>,
        "dkirjanov@...e.de" <dkirjanov@...e.de>,
        "netdev@...r.kernel.org"
	<netdev@...r.kernel.org>,
        "linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org"
	<linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Re: [PATCH v2 0/5] Fix prestera driver fail to probe
 twice



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Lunn <andrew@...n.ch>
> Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2024 2:18 AM
> To: Elad Nachman <enachman@...vell.com>
> Cc: Taras Chornyi <taras.chornyi@...ision.eu>; davem@...emloft.net;
> edumazet@...gle.com; kuba@...nel.org; pabeni@...hat.com;
> kory.maincent@...tlin.com; thomas.petazzoni@...tlin.com;
> miquel.raynal@...tlin.com; przemyslaw.kitszel@...el.com;
> dkirjanov@...e.de; netdev@...r.kernel.org; linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [PATCH v2 0/5] Fix prestera driver fail to probe twice
> 
> Prioritize security for external emails: Confirm sender and content safety
> before clicking links or opening attachments
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> On Wed, Mar 20, 2024 at 07:20:03PM +0200, Elad Nachman wrote:
> > From: Elad Nachman <enachman@...vell.com>
> >
> > Fix issues resulting from insmod, rmmod and insmod of the prestera
> > driver:
> >
> > 1. Call of firmware switch HW reset was missing, and is required
> >    in order to make the firmware loader shift to the correct state
> >    needed for loading the next firmware.
> > 2. Time-out for waiting for firmware loader to be ready was too small.
> > 3. memory referencing after freeing
> > 4. MAC addresses wrapping
> > 5. Missing SFP unbind (phylink release) of a port during the port release.
> 
> I don't see any problems with 3-5. Maybe post them independent of the first
> 2 and they can be merged.
> 
> Are you really saying it is impossible to determine if the hardware is in the
> boot loader waiting for firmware, or is running the firmware?
> 
>    Andrew

Originally, the pain point for Kory was the rmmod + insmod re-probing failure,
Which is only fixed by the first two commits, so I see little point in submitting 3-5 alone,
Without fixing Kory's problem.

The problem is not with the hardware, but with the existing firmware code on the
Firmware cpu, most probably secure-boot protected, which lacks the ABIs to report to
The kernel what is loaded, what version, what state, etc.

I agree that with better original design, we could have made a better work of avoiding
This lengthy reload, but at this point, I believe my options are quite limited here, unfortunately.

Elad.