On Thu, 5 Nov 2026 23:28:31 +0100, Vadim Fedorenko wrote:
> > This would work, but I am wondering if it would be possible to call
> > rtnl inside the _open function, when dealing with the PHY? in other
> > words, shrink the time rtnl is held.
>
> +1, especially in emac_open() rtnl is needed only in error path case

emac_open() and emac_stop() are also the driver's .ndo_open and
.ndo_stop, which the core already calls with RTNL held, see
Documentation/networking/netdevices.rst +214. Taking rtnl_lock()
inside them would deadlock on every open and close, so the lock has to
stay in the PM callbacks.

-- 
Troy Mitchell