[Question] setup_data_interface() hook when switching to a different type of NAND chip

[Masahiro Yamada]

Hi.


When I was looking into the NAND controller/chips separation,
this question popped up in my mind.


Commit 2d472aba15ff169 provides us a more flexibility
about the controller/chips connection.
The connected NAND chips do not need to be homogeneous
any more.


My question is about the ->setup_data_interface() hook
when switching between NAND chips with different speed (timing mode).


Think about the case below:

{
        compatible = "foo-nand-controller";
        reg = <...>;
        #address-cells = <1>;
        #size-cells = <0>;

        nand@0 {
                  reg = <0>;
                  /* Slow NAND chip */
        }

        nand@1 {
                  reg = <1>;
                  /* Fast NAND chip */
        }

}



In this case, two devices /dev/mtdblock0 and /dev/mtdblock1
will appear.

If a user gets access to those two devices in turns,
I think ->setup_data_interface() should be invoked somehow
in order to update the timing registers on the controller side.

Currently, ->setup_data_interface() is invoked in nand_scan_tail()
and that's it.

So, both nand@0 and nand@1 are accessed by the timing mode of nand@1
(assuming nand@0 and nand@1 are initialized in this order)


Of course, it depends on the controller.

If a controller has a register set for every chip select,
the hardware will be able to change the access speed automatically.


I think most of controllers just have a single set of timing registers.
So, when switching between different types of chips,
the driver must update the timing registers.


If this is a worthwhile usecase,
should it be taken care of by the NAND framework,
or by drivers ?


I just thought we could do something in
nand_get_device() / nand_release_device().


If this should be done per driver,
drivers can update registers in select_target or select_chip.


Thought?


-- 
Best Regards
Masahiro Yamada