+++ b/Documentation/driver-api/firmware/built-in-fw.rst @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +================= +Built-in firmware +================= + +Firmware can be built-in to the kernel, that is built-in to vmlinux, +to enable firmware lookups to avoid having to look for firmware from +the filesystem.
I find the second part of the sentence a bit confusing in the wording.
You can enable built-in firmware using the kernel +configuration options: + + * CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE + * CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE_DIR + +The should not be confused with CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL, this is for drivers
s/The/This/ ?
+which enable firmware to be built as part of the kernel build process. This
enables?
+option, CONFIG_FIRMWARE_IN_KERNEL, will build all firmware for all drivers +enabled which ship its firmware inside the Linux kernel source tree. + +There are a few reasons why you might want to consider building your firmware +into the kernel with CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE though: + +* Speed +* Firmware is needed for accessing the boot device, and the user doesn't + want to stuff the firmware into the boot initramfs. + +Even if you have these needs there are a few reasons why you may not be +able to make use of built-in firmware: + +* Legalese - firmware is non-GPL compatible +* Some firmware may be optional +* Firmware upgrades are possible, therefore a new firmware would implicate + a complete firmware rebuild.
kernel rebuild?
+* Some firmware files may be really large in size. The remote-proc subsystem + is an example subsystem which deals with these sorts of firmware +* The firmware may need to be scraped out from some device specific location + dynamically, an example is calibration data for for some WiFi chipsets.
Maybe it is worth to mention, that the calibration data is unique to a given chip, so it is individual. That is you would need to built for each device you sell its own kernel.
[...]
+++ b/Documentation/driver-api/firmware/fallback-mechanisms.rst @@ -0,0 +1,195 @@ +=================== +Fallback mechanisms +=================== + +A fallback mechanism is supported to allow to overcome failures to do a direct +filesystem lookup on the root filesystem or when the firmware simply cannot be +installed for practical reasons on the root filesystem. The kernel +configuration options related to supporting the firmware fallback mechanism are: + + * CONFIG_FW_LOADER_USER_HELPER: enables building the firmware fallback + mechanism. Most distributions enable this option today. If enabled but + CONFIG_FW_LOADER_USER_HELPER_FALLBACK is disabled, only the custom fallback + mechanism is available and for the request_firmware_nowait() call. + * CONFIG_FW_LOADER_USER_HELPER_FALLBACK: force enables each request to + enable the kobject uevent fallback mechanism on all firmare API calls
s/firmare/firmware/
+ except request_firmware_direct(). Most distributions disable this option + today. The call request_firmware_nowait() allows for one alternative + fallback mechanism: if this kconfig option is enabled and your second + argument to request_firmware_nowait(), uevent, is set to false you are + informing the kernel that you have a custom fallback mechanism and it will + manually load the firmware. Read below for more details. + +Note that this means when having this configuration: + +CONFIG_FW_LOADER_USER_HELPER=y +CONFIG_FW_LOADER_USER_HELPER_FALLBACK=n + +the kobject uevent fallback mechanism will never take effect even +for request_firmware_nowait() when uevent is set to true. + +Justifying the firmware fallback mechanism +========================================== + +Direct filesystem lookups may fail for a variety of reasons. Known reasons for +this are worth itemizing and documenting as it justifies the need for the +fallback mechanism: + +* Race against access with the root filesystem upon bootup. + +* Races upon resume from suspend. This is resolved by the firmware cache, but + the firmware cache is only supported if you use uevents, and its not + supported for request_firmware_into_buf(). + +* Firmware is not accessible through typical means: + * It cannot be installed into the root filesystem + * The firmware provides very unique device specific data tailored for + the unit gathered with local information. An example is calibration + data for WiFi chipsets for mobile devices. This calibration data is + not common to all units, but tailored per unit. Such information may + be installed on a separate flash partition other than where the root + filesystem is provided.
Ah, her is the bit about the calibration information. cheers, daniel
