> -----Original Message-----
> From: Shannon Nelson <[email protected]>
> Sent: Monday, November 28, 2022 3:46 PM
> To: Jakub Kicinski <[email protected]>
> Cc: Shannon Nelson <[email protected]>; [email protected];
> [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];
> [email protected]; [email protected]; Keller, Jacob
> E
> <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH net-next 06/19] pds_core: add FW update feature to
> devlink
>
> On 11/28/22 3:33 PM, Jakub Kicinski wrote:
> > On Mon, 28 Nov 2022 14:25:46 -0800 Shannon Nelson wrote:
> >> I don't think Intel selects which FW image to boot, but it looks like
> >> mlxsw and nfp use the PARAM_GENERIC_FW_LOAD_POLICY to select between
> >> DRIVER, FLASH, or DISK. Shall I add a couple of generic SLOT_x items to
> >> the enum devlink_param_fw_load_policy_value and use this API? For
> example:
> >>
> >> DEVLINK_PARAM_FW_LOAD_POLICY_VALUE_SLOT_0,
> >> DEVLINK_PARAM_FW_LOAD_POLICY_VALUE_SLOT_1,
> >> DEVLINK_PARAM_FW_LOAD_POLICY_VALUE_SLOT_2,
> >> DEVLINK_PARAM_FW_LOAD_POLICY_VALUE_SLOT_3,
> >
> > Not the worst idea, although I presume normal FW flashing should switch
> > between slots to activate the new image by default? Which means the
> > action of fw flashing would alter the policy set by the user. A little
> > awkward from an API purist standpoint.
This could potentially be handled by having DELVINK_PARAM_FW_LOAD_POLICY_FLASH
be the automatic "select best version", and if a user has set a manual value
then don't allow flashing until a reboot or the value is set back to
POLICY_FLASH?
>
> Yes, the action of flashing will set the new bank/slot to use on the
> next boot. However, we have the ability to select from multiple valid
> images and we want to pass this flexibility to the user rather than
> force them to go through a whole flash sequence just to get to the other
> bank.
>
> >
> > I'd just expose the active "bank" via netlink directly.
> >
> >> I could then modify the devlink dev info printed to refer to fw_slot_0,
> >> fw.slot_1, and fw.slot_2 instead of our vendor specific names.
> >
> > Jake, didn't you have a similar capability in ice?
> >
> > Knowing my memory I may have acquiesced to something in another driver
> > already. That said - I think it's cleaner if we just list the stored
> > versions per bank, no?
>
> We are listing the stored images in the devlink dev info output, just
> want to let the user choose which of those valid images to use next.
>
> Cheers,
> sln
Technically I think we could do something similar in ice to switch between the
banks, at least as long as there is a valid image in the bank. The big trick is
that I am not sure we can verify ahead of time whether we have a valid image
and if you happen to boot into an invalid or blank image. There is some
recovery firmware that should activate in that case, but I think our current
driver doesn't implement enough of a recovery mode to actually handle this case
to allow user to switch back.
Still, I think the ability to select the bank is valuable, and finding the
right way to expose it is good.
Thanks,
Jake
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