Re: New proposed DRM interface design

From: Jon Smirl
Date: Fri Sep 03 2004 - 20:21:22 EST


--- Dave Airlie <airlied@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Yes we only have one binary interface, between the core and module,
> this interface is minimal, so AGP won't go in it... *ALL* the core
> does is deal with the addition/removal of modules, the idea being
> that the interface is very minor and new features won't change it...

If you're Nvidia you ship the library source (since it is GPL) and a
binary driver. You compile the library on your kernel so that kernel
API IFDEF's get executed and then link to the binary driver. This model
won't work with IFDEF'd inline functions that are used in a binary
driver. They will have to be real functions in the library.

Things like this from the i830 driver will need to be library functions
#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE <= KERNEL_VERSION(2,4,2)
#define down_write down
#define up_write up
#endif

With the right set of library functions it should be possible to write
a video driver that is OS independent.

How big is the library that is going to get duplicated? Note that it
only gets duplicated for different cards not multiple instances of the
same card family.

Are you going to hide the exported symbols so that we don't need the
DRM() macros?

=====
Jon Smirl
jonsmirl@xxxxxxxxx



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