Re: [ECOS] default network port on ixp425

[alfred hitch <alfred dot hitch at gmail dot com>]

ok, 
I am interested in doing this enhancement and post the patch back here .. 

What I think I am going to do is :

-> let redboot come up, read fconfig, get the default port to begin with ..
-> try and access the network using this port .. 
-> If the network cannot be accessed, use the other port to access the
network ..

The last step I am not sure if it requires a reboot (feeling from ur
comments), cannot we attach a port for stack at run time itself ? I
think we can, as fconfig parsing is also at run time only ..

I dont intend to change the fconfig to use the last successfull port,
(might be an optional feature for later)

I have just started with redboot and have been doing small changes,
and am not that comfortable with the code ..
can you please tell me from which files is this network initialisation
being done ?? and I can start digging.
I have a reason to conclude that redboot behaves same way on all IXP
plattforms infact. i,e not switch ports in case of failure.

Cheers,
Alfred


On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 08:41:20 -0500, Mark Salter <msalter@redhat.com> wrote:
> [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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