From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1756069Ab0I2NKz (ORCPT ); Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:10:55 -0400 Received: from mail.solarflare.com ([216.237.3.220]:48639 "EHLO exchange.solarflare.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1752218Ab0I2NKy (ORCPT ); Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:10:54 -0400 Subject: Re: [RFC] Online firmware upgrade in non-embedded systems From: Ben Hutchings To: Carl-Daniel Hailfinger Cc: netdev , linux-kernel , linux-mtd , sf-linux-drivers , flashrom In-Reply-To: <4CA334FA.2080707@gmx.net> References: <1285696787.2282.45.camel@achroite.uk.solarflarecom.com> <4CA26F35.6060408@gmx.net> <1285763700.2283.6.camel@achroite.uk.solarflarecom.com> <4CA334FA.2080707@gmx.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Organization: Solarflare Communications Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:10:50 +0100 Message-ID: <1285765850.2283.15.camel@achroite.uk.solarflarecom.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Evolution 2.30.2 (2.30.2-4.fc13) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-OriginalArrivalTime: 29 Sep 2010 13:10:54.0068 (UTC) FILETIME=[BF346340:01CB5FD7] X-TM-AS-Product-Ver: SMEX-8.0.0.1181-6.500.1024-17672.005 X-TM-AS-Result: No--25.854900-0.000000-31 X-TM-AS-User-Approved-Sender: Yes X-TM-AS-User-Blocked-Sender: No Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Wed, 2010-09-29 at 14:45 +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote: > On 29.09.2010 14:35, Ben Hutchings wrote: > > On Wed, 2010-09-29 at 00:41 +0200, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger wrote: > > > >> [adding flashrom@flashrom.org to CC, senders will be whitelisted after a > >> short delay] > >> > >> On 28.09.2010 19:59, Ben Hutchings wrote: > >> > >>> Network and disk controllers normally have at least some firmware in > >>> flash to support their use as boot devices. [...] > >>> > >>> > >> Given that the flashrom utility (GPLv2) > >> supports flashing many network cards, SATA/PATA controllers, graphics > >> cards, and of course the main system firmware/BIOS/EFI, and it does that > >> from userspace without any kernel support, > >> > > [...] > > > > I'm looking for a clean solution, not a hack. > > > > What would qualify as a clean solution? One where hardware access is mediated by the kernel, and doesn't involve unloading or potentially conflicting with the driver for that hardware. > And is cross-platform code one of your goals? Not at this level. At the application level, yes, but we already have a working application so I'm not interested in using flashrom for that. Ben. -- Ben Hutchings, Senior Software Engineer, Solarflare Communications Not speaking for my employer; that's the marketing department's job. They asked us to note that Solarflare product names are trademarked.