Re: [ECOS] default network port on ixp425

[Mark Salter <msalter at redhat dot com>]

[Please respond to the list rather than me individually.]

On Tue, 2005-03-15 at 21:04 -0500, alfred hitch wrote:
> hmm,
> 
> I think I need to explain the situation again.
> 
> I havent plugged in the pci card on my board.
> ixp425 has support for 2 ports. say called portA and port B
> default port is say port A as specified in the fconfig.
> 
> 1) There is no wire on Port A, wouldnt redboot go ahead and scan for port B.
> Basically PHY is there on board but no link status as no wire.

No. What RedBoot is actually doing is looking for the first network
device driver which successfully runs the driver init() function.
The driver init function for the PCI card will succeed whether or
not the link is up. The driver init function for the NPE ports will
succeed if the NPE port is present and has a PHY attached. Again, the
driver init function doesn't care if the link is up or down.

> 
> 2) In practical enviornment / on field, Port A and Port B both will
> have wires on their interfaces, We wanted to use Redboot to be able to
> access our product boards remotely and in case of any crash'es /
> firmware upgrade. we would have remotely tftp'ewd files and save them.
> In that case, I dont see how  it will work if the default port is not
> on network to reach me.
> Its infact an outdoor equipment and so its not feasible to switch wire
> between ports (less I send a note with product shippment saying please
> make sure Port A (default) is accessible to me, my boss wouldnt like
> that I am sure).
> 
> any work arounds ? any patches ? I am sure somebody would have also
> faced similar requirement ?
> 

Not that I am aware of. I see several possibilites:

 1) Change driver init function to fail if link is down

 2) Enhance RedBoot to support runtime selection of eth port.

 3) Add some platform specific RedBoot code to check if link is up on
    selected eth port. If not, change the fconfig default to another
    port and reboot.

--Mark



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