kuznet@ms2.inr.ac.ru wrote:
>
> Hello!
>
> > Jeff has introduced `alloc_etherdev()' which allocates storage
> > for a netdev but doesn't register it. The one quirk with this
> > approach (and why it's vastly simpler than my thing)
>
> I do not see where it is simpler. The only difference is that
> name is unknown. 8)
Note that using dev->name during probe was always incorrect. Think
about the error case:
device 0:
dev = init_etherdev(...); /* gets if eth0 */
printk(... dev->name ...)
/* prints "eth0: error foo, aborting" */
failure! exit and unregister_netdev
device 1:
dev = init_etherdev(...); /* gets if eth0 */
printk(... dev->name ...)
/* prints "eth0: error foo, aborting" */
failure! exit and unregister_netdev
device 2:
dev = init_etherdev(...); /* gets if eth0 */
printk(... dev->name ...)
/* prints "eth0: error foo, aborting" */
failure! exit and unregister_netdev
So, using interface name in this manner was always buggy because it
conveys no useful information to the user.
> What's about dev_probe_lock, I again do not understand why it is not deleted.
> Please, shed some light.
I'm all for removing it... I do not like removing it in a so-called
"stable" series, though. alloc_etherdev() was enough to solve the race
and flush out buggy drivers using dev->name during probe. Notice I did
not remove init_etherdev and fix it properly -- IMHO that is 2.5
material.
Jeff
-- Jeff Garzik | Game called on account of naked chick Building 1024 | MandrakeSoft | - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue May 15 2001 - 21:00:36 EST