Re: [PATCH v4 6/8] Bluetooth: hci_sync: Add NVMEM-backed BD address retrieval

[Loic Poulain]

On Fri, Jun 12, 2026 at 11:11 AM Dmitry Baryshkov
<dmitry.baryshkov@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> On Tue, Jun 09, 2026 at 09:52:31AM +0200, Loic Poulain wrote:
> > Some devices store the Bluetooth BD address in non-volatile
> > memory, which can be accessed through the NVMEM framework.
> > Similar to Ethernet or WiFi MAC addresses, add support for
> > reading the BD address from a 'local-bd-address' NVMEM cell.
> >
> > As with the device-tree provided BD address, add a quirk to
> > indicate whether a device or platform should attempt to read
> > the address from NVMEM when no valid in-chip address is present.
> > Also add a quirk to indicate if the address is stored in
> > big-endian byte order.
> >
> > Reviewed-by: Bartosz Golaszewski <bartosz.golaszewski@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Signed-off-by: Loic Poulain <loic.poulain@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > ---
> >  include/net/bluetooth/hci.h | 18 ++++++++++++++++++
> >  net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c    | 39 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
> >  2 files changed, 56 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> >
> > diff --git a/include/net/bluetooth/hci.h b/include/net/bluetooth/hci.h
> > index 572b1c620c5d653a1fe10b26c1b0ba33e8f4968f..7686466d1109253b0d75edeb5f6a99fb98ce4cc6 100644
> > --- a/include/net/bluetooth/hci.h
> > +++ b/include/net/bluetooth/hci.h
> > @@ -164,6 +164,24 @@ enum {
> >        */
> >       HCI_QUIRK_BDADDR_PROPERTY_BROKEN,
> >
> > +     /* When this quirk is set, the public Bluetooth address
> > +      * initially reported by HCI Read BD Address command
> > +      * is considered invalid. The public BD Address can be
> > +      * retrieved via a 'local-bd-address' NVMEM cell.
>
> Why do we need a quirk here? Can't we always assume that if there is an
> NVMEM cell, it contains a correct address, even if HCI command returned
> a seemingly-sensible one?

The pattern follows HCI_QUIRK_USE_BDADDR_PROPERTY, the quirk indicates
that the address returned by the HCI Read BD Address command is
invalid and should be overridden using a fwnode property. Without this
quirk, even a valid fwnode-provided address is ignored. So here this
is primarily done to align with that established behavior, although
whether that design choice is ideal is a good question.

This also raises the question of why an explicit HCI_QUIRK_USE_* flag
is required to allow reading from NVMEM when the controller-provided
address is known to be invalid, rather than attempting to use any
available backend (fwnode-prop or NVMEM). but this remains
consistent with the behavior established by the fwnode-based quirk.

So, I think these aspects could be revisited in a Bluetooth follow-up
series if there is interest in reworking the overall addr fallback
design.

Regards,
Loic



>
> > +      *
> > +      * This quirk can be set before hci_register_dev is called or
> > +      * during the hdev->setup vendor callback.
> > +      */
> > +     HCI_QUIRK_USE_BDADDR_NVMEM,
> > +
> > +     /* When this quirk is set, the Bluetooth Device Address provided by
> > +      * the 'local-bd-address' NVMEM is stored in big-endian order.
> > +      *
> > +      * This quirk can be set before hci_register_dev is called or
> > +      * during the hdev->setup vendor callback.
> > +      */
> > +     HCI_QUIRK_BDADDR_NVMEM_BE,
>
> Also, is this necessary? Are the devices which store the address in the
> wrong format in the NVMEM?
>
> > +
> >       /* When this quirk is set, the duplicate filtering during
> >        * scanning is based on Bluetooth devices addresses. To allow
> >        * RSSI based updates, restart scanning if needed.
>
> --
> With best wishes
> Dmitry