Re: [PATCH 11/11] ARM: versatile: move CLCD configuration to device tree

Hi Linus,

On Feb 25, 2016, at 17:36 , Linus Walleij [off-list ref] wrote:

On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 3:35 PM, Pantelis Antoniou
[off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

quoted

On Feb 25, 2016, at 15:43 , Linus Walleij [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

quoted

It also means there is no way to get the console up without the right
firmware files in the filesystem. I think that is really crap compared
to what we have today where the display will always come up, and
basically a regression.

I understand the stance with respect to things like add-on hardware
like a Bluetooth board or WLAN or whatnot. But the fbdev console
is just too basic, like a serial port IMO.

Sure in the ARM world we usually have a serial console, but this is
seriously breaking current practice.

As Tomi mentioned firmware files can be located in the kernel image; there is no
requirement to be in a filesystem, and that application can be performed really
early, before even early init.

Are you thinking about exploiting an appended DT with
CONFIG_ARM_APPENDED_DTB or something else?

It’s not much of a problem to scan for extra blobs appended to the booting blob.

If found, you just apply them and that’s it.

The concatenation operation can either be made off-line on the host, or by the bootloader
if it’s capable of doing so.

If the bootloader is not smart enough to do it, just put the concatenated dtb in place
of the original.

Yours,
Linus Walleij

Regards

— Pantelis