Re: [PATCH RFC] watchdog: add a new driver for VIA chipsets

[Marc Vertes <marc.vertes@sigfox.com>]

Wim Van Sebroeck <wim@iguana.be> wrote:

> Hi Harald,
>
> > Unfortunately it simply doesn't work.  When I originally implemented a
> > via_wdt driver some years ago, I couldn't start the watchdog no matter
> > how hard I tried.  My inquiries into VIA at that point didn't provide
> > any response either.  In fact, I even feared that nobody might ever have
> > used that watchdog hardware before ;)
> > 
> > I can ask again, but I'm not sure if it will be any different at that
> > time..
>
> Could you please ask again? It could indeed be that they lock registers.
> (It could be something similar to some of the superIO chipsets that can
> enable/disable (lock/unlock) access to registers).
>
> The BIOS can at least start the hardware, so the hardware does work :-)
>
Hey, I just discovered that enabling Plug&Play in the BIOS is the key!

It unlocks watchdog control registers and opens access to counters and
all the stuff. Sometimes lateral thinking helps :-)

So the driver will be able to normally support all features as documented
in the datasheet. I plan an update tomorrow.

Regards,
--
Marc