Re: [PATCH v4 1/5] dt-bindings: misc: Add mikrobus-connector

[Ayush Singh]

On 3/20/24 01:02, Andrew Lunn wrote:

> > Yes, after discussion with Vaishnav and trying to brainstorm some way to do
> > the same thing with dt overlays, it seems that trying to use dt overlays
> > will mean need to have completely separate implementation of mikroBUS for
> > local ports and mikroBUS over greybus.
> Could you explain why please?
>
> Are greybus I2C bus masters different from physical I2C bus masters?
> Are greybus SPI bus masters different from physical SPI bus masters?

Well, they are virtual, so they are not declared in the device tree. I 
have linked the greybus i2c implementation. It basically allocates an 
i2c_adpater and then adds it using `i2c_add_adapter` method. This 
adapter can then be passed to say mikroBUS driver where it can be used 
as a normal i2c_adapter, and we can register the device to it.

> > Additionally, trying to put dt overlays in EEPROM would mean they
> > will be incompatible with use in local ports and vice versa.
> I don't think you need to put the DT overlay in the EEPROM. All you
> need to do is translate the manifest into DT for those simple devices
> which can be described by the limited manifest format. For more
> complex devices, you use the ID to go find a DT fragment which
> describes the board, and skip the manifest to DT transformation.
>
> 	Andrew

I am not familiar enough to know if the device tree can work with 
virtual devices created by greybus subsystem.

Maybe the problem stems from the fact that mikroBUS does not have a 
physical controller (and my inability to explain the patch properly). 
However, the purpose of this patchset is to in fact provide a virtual 
mikroBUS controller to allow us to register a mikroBUS addon board 
described by board_info struct similar to how it is possible to create 
and register an i2c device on an i2c adapter using 
`i2c_new_client_device` or spi device using `spi_new_device`. The 
manifest is used to populate this board_info struct, but it will be 
possible to use something other than mikroBUS manifest if someone wants 
to. I can make the necessary adjustments by moving manifest support to 
its own config option.


Link: 
https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/latest/source/drivers/staging/greybus/i2c.c#L230 
Greybus i2c


Ayush Singh