Re: [PATCH] net: wireless: ath9k: Return an error when ath9k_hw_reset() fails

[Heiner Kallweit]

On 04.05.2019 12:08, Jia-Ju Bai wrote:
> ath9k_hw_reset() in ath9k_start() can fail, and in this case, 
> ath9k_start() should return an error instead of executing the 
> subsequent code.
> 
Such mechanical patches w/o understanding the code are always
problematic. Do you have any proof that this error is fatal?
I think it is not, else we wouldn't have this line:
ah->reset_power_on = false;
Also you should consider that a mutex and a spinlock are held.
Maybe changing the error message to a warning would be more
appropriate. But this I would leave to somebody being more
familiar with this driver.

> Signed-off-by: Jia-Ju Bai <baijiaju1990@xxxxxxxxx>
> ---
>  drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/main.c | 1 +
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
> 
> diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/main.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/main.c
> index f23cb2f3d296..f78e7c46764d 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/main.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/main.c
> @@ -681,6 +681,7 @@ static int ath9k_start(struct ieee80211_hw *hw)
>  			"Unable to reset hardware; reset status %d (freq %u MHz)\n",
>  			r, curchan->center_freq);
>  		ah->reset_power_on = false;
> +		return r;
>  	}
>  
>  	/* Setup our intr mask. */
>