> pcibios_find_device is usually not broken, but the PCI BIOS itself is. I've
> already seen BIOSes that crash when asked to do less common things (like reading
> config data from a non-existing card). So I vote for not using the BIOS whenever
> possible.
>
> I propose that we add a config-time option forcing the kernel to use PCI BIOS
> ordering for its device list. IMHO we shouldn't do such things unless we're
> explicitly asked to do them. OK?
This will work only if you can get distribution maintainers to use
different kernels for install vs upgrade. Otherwise they will just enable
the compatibility option which will result in new installations using the
old BIOS-style ordering. Back to step one.
Since this is done before any userspace program is run, a run-time options
would be useless.
I'm not very familiar with the PCI BIOS, but a workaround could be to
query the bios for all the devices, keep the list somewhere and just walk
it whenever there is a request, while using the direct access methods for
everything else - reading/setting parameters, etc. Again, I don't know if
this can be done, and there would be subtle problems with hot-pluggable
stuff (PCMCIA CardBus32), but it might be worth a try.
Ion
--
It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool,
than to open it and remove all doubt.
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu