Re: [PATCH v1] driver core: fw_devlink: Don't create device links for devices not on a bus

[Greg Kroah-Hartman]

On Tue, Aug 31, 2021 at 11:57:45PM -0700, Saravana Kannan wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 31, 2021 at 11:24 PM Greg Kroah-Hartman
> <gregkh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, Aug 31, 2021 at 03:45:10PM -0700, Saravana Kannan wrote:
> > > Devices that are not on a bus will never have a driver bound to it. So,
> > > fw_devlink should not create device links for it as it can cause probe
> > > issues[1] or sync_state() call back issues[2].
> > >
> > > [1] - https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CAGETcx_xJCqOWtwZ9Ee2+0sPGNLM5=F=djtbdYENkAYZa0ynqQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
> > > [2] - https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CAPDyKFo9Bxremkb1dDrr4OcXSpE0keVze94Cm=zrkOVxHHxBmQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
> > > Fixes: f9aa460672c9 ("driver core: Refactor fw_devlink feature")
> > > Reported-by: Ulf Hansson <ulf.hansson@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > > Reported-by: Marek Szyprowski <m.szyprowski@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > > Signed-off-by: Saravana Kannan <saravanak@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > > ---
> > >  drivers/base/core.c | 16 ++++++++++++++++
> > >  1 file changed, 16 insertions(+)
> > >
> > > diff --git a/drivers/base/core.c b/drivers/base/core.c
> > > index f6360490a4a3..304a06314656 100644
> > > --- a/drivers/base/core.c
> > > +++ b/drivers/base/core.c
> > > @@ -1719,8 +1719,24 @@ static int fw_devlink_create_devlink(struct device *con,
> > >       struct device *sup_dev;
> > >       int ret = 0;
> > >
> > > +     /*
> > > +      * If a consumer device is not on a bus (i.e. a driver will never bind
> > > +      * to it), it doesn't make sense for fw_devlink to create device links
> > > +      * for it.
> > > +      */
> > > +     if (con->bus == NULL)
> > > +             return -EINVAL;
> > > +
> >
> > Why would a device not be on a bus that has to do with a driver needing
> > it?  What types of devices are these?
> 
> I'm not sure what you are asking, because it seems like a question
> you'd know the answer to. What I'm trying to say is that
> bus_probe_device() is obviously only possible if the device is on a
> bus. And fw_devlink creates managed device links that track if a
> device is bound to a driver. So it doesn't make sense to create the
> device link if the device is not on a bus.
> 
> There are plenty of examples for this -- like all the devices that get
> added to a class? For example the platform bus or the mdio bus itself
> are devices that are added to a class instead of a bus.
> 
> Not sure if I answered your question. Let me know.

Sorry, that was a vague question.

I was trying to say, "how can a device that is not attached to a bus at
all even be called for this?"  Who would be making that type of
connection, what subsystem is causing this to happen?

thanks,

greg k-h