Re: [RFC PATCH net-next 2/9] dt-bindings: net: ethernet-controller: add slow-to-probe

From: Andrew Lunn

Date: Thu Sep 03 2026 - 20:35:12 EST


On Sat, Aug 29, 2026 at 05:25:39AM +0000, Aleksei Sviridkin wrote:
> A port can reference a PHY whose driver is not usable at connect
> time because the PHY's firmware, or the module carrying its driver,
> lives in a filesystem that is not mounted yet when the controller
> probes. Today such a port is dropped at setup and stays unusable
> for the whole uptime even though the PHY becomes fully functional
> seconds later.
>
> Add a boolean the port node can carry to declare this expected:
> the connect keeps the port and attaches the PHY once it becomes
> usable instead of failing.

That sentence does not parse for me. I have problems at the :

> + slow-to-probe:

Maybe this should include what entity is slow to probe, since this is
in the MAC node, but it is not the MAC which is slower. We might also
get the situation that the PCS needs firmware and is also slow to
probe?

Andrew