Hello Trilok,

Thank you for the feedback.

Yes, MediaTek SoCs have ARM architectural timers. The timer-mediatek
driver provides an always-on system timer that complements, rather than
replaces, the ARM architected timer.

I will send v4 with an updated cover letter to clarify this.

BRs,
Zhipeng

-----Original Message-----
From: Trilok Soni <redacted>
Sent: 2026年3月4日 13:41
To: Zhipeng Wang <redacted>; daniel.lezcano@linaro.org;
tglx@kernel.org
Cc: shawnguo@kernel.org; s.hauer@pengutronix.de; kernel@pengutronix.de;
festevam@gmail.com; matthias.bgg@gmail.com;
angelogioacchino.delregno@collabora.com; linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org;
imx@lists.linux.dev; linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org;
linux-mediatek@lists.infradead.org; chun-hung.wu@mediatek.com;
walter.chang@mediatek.com; jstultz@google.com; amergnat@baylibre.com;
Aisheng Dong [off-list ref]; Jindong Yue
[off-list ref]; Xuegang Liu [off-list ref]
Subject: [EXT] Re: [PATCH v3 0/4] clocksource: Add module support for timer
drivers

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On 3/3/2026 6:57 PM, Zhipeng Wang wrote:

quoted

This patch series enables clocksource timer drivers to be built as
loadable kernel modules, which is particularly useful for GKI (Generic
Kernel Image) configurations.

This series is based on the previous MediaTek timer modularization work:
Link:
https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flore
.kernel.org%2Fall%2F20230517022557.24388-1-walter.chang%40mediatek.c

om

quoted

%2F&data=05%7C02%7Czhipeng.wang_1%40nxp.com%7C3c600569cf2c45f

e76d308de

quoted

79b09401%7C686ea1d3bc2b4c6fa92cd99c5c301635%7C0%7C0%7C6390819
964656056

quoted

68%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjA
uMDAwMCI

quoted

sIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sda
ta=l

quoted

Y0pdTxMyzbZospgoWZHb4sOFTwdl84pJXxvRt4fN3I%3D&reserved=0

You are not explaining clearly on the why part? Does MTK doesn't have ARM
compliant timers and due to which you have specific timer driver?

It is not clear.

quoted

The series includes:
1. Export necessary functions from clocksource/mmio 2. Remove __init
markings from timer-of to support modules 3. Convert MediaTek timer
driver to support module build 4. Convert i.MX TPM timer driver to
support module build

Testing performed:
- Built and tested on i.MX8ULP platform
- Built and tested on MediaTek platform
- Verified both built-in and module configurations
- Confirmed timer functionality in both configurations

Changes in v3:
- Reworded summary line for timer-mediatek driver as suggested.
- Improved commit message formatting (line wrapping).
- No functional changes to the code.

Changes in v2:
- Added Signed-off-by from submitter (Zhipeng Wang) to all patches
  as requested by reviewers

Changes in v1:
- Fixed 'unsigned' to 'unsigned int' in clocksource_mmio_init()
- Changed MODULE_LICENSE from "GPL v2" to "GPL" for mediatek driver
- Added i.MX TPM timer driver module support

Chun-Hung Wu (3):
  clocksource/drivers/mmio: Export clocksource_mmio_init()
  clocksource/drivers/timer-of: Remove __init markings
  clocksource/drivers/timer-mediatek: Convert timer-mediatek to a
    loadable module

Jindong Yue (1):
  clocksource/drivers/imx-tpm: Support building imx-tpm driver as
module

 drivers/clocksource/Kconfig          |  4 ++--
 drivers/clocksource/mmio.c           |  8 ++++---
 drivers/clocksource/timer-imx-tpm.c  | 36
+++++++++++++++++++++++++---  drivers/clocksource/timer-mediatek.c |

33 +++++++++++++++++++++++++

quoted

 drivers/clocksource/timer-of.c       | 23 +++++++++---------
 drivers/clocksource/timer-of.h       |  6 ++---
 6 files changed, 88 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)