Re: [PATCH] net: usb: dm9601: fix wrong return value in dm9601_mdio_read

From: Jakub Kicinski
Date: Tue Feb 27 2024 - 21:17:17 EST


On Sun, 25 Feb 2024 00:20:06 +0100 Javier Carrasco wrote:
> The MII code does not check the return value of mdio_read (among
> others), and therefore no error code should be sent. A previous fix to
> the use of an uninitialized variable propagates negative error codes,
> that might lead to wrong operations by the MII library.
>
> An example of such issues is the use of mii_nway_restart by the dm9601
> driver. The mii_nway_restart function does not check the value returned
> by mdio_read, which in this case might be a negative number which could
> contain the exact bit the function checks (BMCR_ANENABLE = 0x1000).
>
> Return zero in case of error, as it is common practice in users of
> mdio_read to avoid wrong uses of the return value.

A bit odd but appears to be true, so I'll apply, thank you!

Andrew,
mii.h files seem to fall under PHYLIB in MAINTAINERS, but mii.c does
not. Is this intentional?