>> The kernel is of course welcome to do so -- and this may be a valid >> reason to attach pin information to specific device nodes, if it >> actually >> saves a non-negligible amount of power -- but it's not a reason to >> force >> the kernel to have to care by not setting things up in the firmware. > > Well, I might agree here. But to me it seems unnatural that I have to > upgrade bootloader to use SPI -- I can already boot the kernel. > > Bootloader's duties are finished when kernel booted. And if already > running kernel is unable to do something, it's not bootloader's fault > anymore, but kernel's itself.
If the firmware failed to properly initialise the system into some stable state, then yeah, it _is_ the firmware's fault. > And from the practical point of view, upgrading bootloader is much > more error-prone and risky for the users without proper rescue tools > and knowledge. Yeah well -- it's hardly rocket science to make this a very reliable and safe procedure. > Kernel is easier to deploy after bug-fixing (and > wrongly set up GPIO pin is a bug). That's why I tend to like "dumb > and simple" bootloaders and do not hang up too much duties on it. That's one of the ways it is done -- have a "dumb and simple" recovery firmware that can install new versions of the "main" firmware. Anyway, we're getting very far off-topic now :-) Segher _______________________________________________ Linuxppc-dev mailing list Linuxppc-dev@ozlabs.org https://ozlabs.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxppc-dev
