Re: 2.6.0 modules, hotplug, PCMCIA

["Norman Diamond" <ndiamond@wta.att.ne.jp>]

Russell King replied to me:

> > 4.  SuSE 8.2 defaults to using the kernel PCMCIA package rather than the
> > external PCMCIA package.  This is fine with me so kernel 2.6.0 also uses its
> > own compiled PCMCIA drivers instead of trying to make an external PCMCIA
> > package work with two kernels.  It seems to me that it should be OK to
> > compile PCMCIA as modules instead of built-in, but there were boot-time
> > errors, so I had to change PCMCIA and Yenta to built-in.
>
> What were these errors?

I think it was that the PCMCIA core and Yenta modules didn't even get
loaded, I had to modprobe them.  The need to type "cardmgr &" by hand
remained necessary even after recompiling with them built-in and rebooting.

> It sounds like the SuSE init scripts are being clever and probably only
> know about how their 2.4 situation works.

I agree.

> > 5.  However, file /etc/pcmcia/serial.opts is still getting ignored under
> > 2.6.0.
>
> "still" ?  This is news to me (as the guy who seems to be handling both
> PCMCIA and serial.)

"still" as in "even after compiling the drivers as Y instead of M, and
typing the cardmgr command by hand".  Not "still" as in "[not] same as 2.4"
because this bug does not occur in 2.4.

> > The modem is detected as containing a TI 16750 UART, and whatever
> > the serial driver does then, it causes the modem to hang up.  The serial
> > driver in 2.4.20 defaults to the same thing but 2.4.20 reads file
> > /etc/pcmcia/serial.opts, obeys the line SERIAL_OPTS="uart 16550A", and lets
> > the modem operate at 33% of its rated speed instead of hanging up.
>
> "hang up"?  Do you mean "on-hook" or do you mean "stop working"?  Is
> there anything in /var/log/messages about this?

I think both.  "on-hook" happens immediately, and the only way to try again
is to eject the card and reinsert it.

> On my RH systems, cardmgr logs a fair amount to the system messages log,
> which includes details of any commands run and any failures.  It would
> be really useful to see this.

As far as I can tell, in SuSE 8.2 with SuSE's default version of the 2.4.20
kernel, this isn't happening, but in 2.6.0 it is happening even when I
didn't ask for it.  /var/log/messages gets around 20,000 lines of messages
every day that I experiment with 2.6.0, and 90% of it is PCMCIA stuff.  I
think I'm capable of e-mailing it to you if it will help.  Actually later
today I might have time to experiment with the modem and 2.6.0 again, and
might be able to grep for appropriate stuff in /var/log/messages.