Re: [RFC] [PATCH] Device Tree on ARM platform

[Josh Boyer]

On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 10:27:01PM +0200, Jean-Christophe PLAGNIOL-VILLARD wrote:
>On 13:23 Wed 27 May     , David Miller wrote:
>> From: Russell King <rmk+lkml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 20:29:10 +0100
>> 
>> > To program them into the hardware registers, which is not what we in
>> > the ARM community say, but it's what the _network_ guys tell people
>> > they should be doing.
>> > 
>> > I've suggested in the past having a standard kernel parameter such
>> > that you can specify a mac address on a per-device basis in a totally
>> > platform independent way, but the network folk don't like that idea.
>> 
>> As a "network guy" I can tell you that when the system firmware
>> provides a system-wide or device specific MAC address in it's device
>> tree, that is what you should use.
>> 
>> And that's what I've been doing on sparc FOR 15 YEARS.
>> 
>> Device trees are the only systematic generic mechanism for
>> describing device layouts on the myriad of embedded boards
>> out there which you will ever find.
>> 
>> Two platforms, and now a third, have been using this scheme
>> over a very proven period of time.  It's not a hack, there is
>> infrastructure to get the boot loaders to do the right thing,
>> and only ARM seems to resist it. :-)
>The SH, avr32, mips, x86 does not support it too IIRC

x86 has a variant.  The OLPC uses OF.

josh
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