@@ -1891,26 +1891,15 @@ static int ice_devlink_nvm_snapshot(struct devlink *devlink,
 	for (i = 0; i < num_blks; i++) {
 		u32 read_sz = min_t(u32, ICE_DEVLINK_READ_BLK_SIZE, left);
 
-		status = ice_acquire_nvm(hw, ICE_RES_READ);
-		if (status) {
-			dev_dbg(dev, "ice_acquire_nvm failed, err %d aq_err %d\n",
-				status, hw->adminq.sq_last_status);
-			NL_SET_ERR_MSG_MOD(extack, "Failed to acquire NVM semaphore");
-			vfree(nvm_data);
-			return -EIO;
-		}
-
 		status = ice_read_flat_nvm(hw, i * ICE_DEVLINK_READ_BLK_SIZE,
 					   &read_sz, tmp, read_shadow_ram);
 		if (status) {
 			dev_dbg(dev, "ice_read_flat_nvm failed after reading %u bytes, err %d aq_err %d\n",
 				read_sz, status, hw->adminq.sq_last_status);
 			NL_SET_ERR_MSG_MOD(extack, "Failed to read NVM contents");
-			ice_release_nvm(hw);
 			vfree(nvm_data);
 			return -EIO;
 		}
-		ice_release_nvm(hw);
 
 		tmp += read_sz;
 		left -= read_sz;

@@ -1966,24 +1955,14 @@ static int ice_devlink_nvm_read(struct devlink *devlink,
 		return -ERANGE;
 	}
 
-	status = ice_acquire_nvm(hw, ICE_RES_READ);
-	if (status) {
-		dev_dbg(dev, "ice_acquire_nvm failed, err %d aq_err %d\n",
-			status, hw->adminq.sq_last_status);
-		NL_SET_ERR_MSG_MOD(extack, "Failed to acquire NVM semaphore");
-		return -EIO;
-	}
-
 	status = ice_read_flat_nvm(hw, (u32)offset, &size, data,
 				   read_shadow_ram);
 	if (status) {
 		dev_dbg(dev, "ice_read_flat_nvm failed after reading %u bytes, err %d aq_err %d\n",
 			size, status, hw->adminq.sq_last_status);
 		NL_SET_ERR_MSG_MOD(extack, "Failed to read NVM contents");
-		ice_release_nvm(hw);
 		return -EIO;
 	}
-	ice_release_nvm(hw);
 
 	return 0;
 }

@@ -869,24 +869,15 @@ ice_get_eeprom(struct net_device *netdev, struct ethtool_eeprom *eeprom,
 	if (!buf)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	ret = ice_acquire_nvm(hw, ICE_RES_READ);
-	if (ret) {
-		dev_err(dev, "ice_acquire_nvm failed, err %d aq_err %s\n",
-			ret, libie_aq_str(hw->adminq.sq_last_status));
-		goto out;
-	}
-
 	ret = ice_read_flat_nvm(hw, eeprom->offset, &eeprom->len, buf,
 				false);
 	if (ret) {
 		dev_err(dev, "ice_read_flat_nvm failed, err %d aq_err %s\n",
 			ret, libie_aq_str(hw->adminq.sq_last_status));
-		goto release;
+		goto out;
 	}
 
 	memcpy(bytes, buf, eeprom->len);
-release:
-	ice_release_nvm(hw);
 out:
 	kfree(buf);
 	return ret;

@@ -58,6 +58,11 @@ int ice_aq_read_nvm(struct ice_hw *hw, u16 module_typeid, u32 offset,
  * breaks read requests across Shadow RAM sectors and ensures that no single
  * read request exceeds the maximum 4KB read for a single AdminQ command.
  *
+ * FW caps the read lock at a maximum of 3000ms, so a read spanning multiple
+ * 4KB sectors cannot be done under a single lock without FW reclaiming it
+ * mid-read. The NVM lock is therefore acquired and released around each AQ
+ * read, so this function must be called without the lock held.
+ *
  * Returns a status code on failure. Note that the data pointer may be
  * partially updated if some reads succeed before a failure.
  */

@@ -65,6 +70,7 @@ int
 ice_read_flat_nvm(struct ice_hw *hw, u32 offset, u32 *length, u8 *data,
 		  bool read_shadow_ram)
 {
+	enum libie_aq_err aq_err;
 	u32 inlen = *length;
 	u32 bytes_read = 0;
 	bool last_cmd;

@@ -92,12 +98,28 @@ ice_read_flat_nvm(struct ice_hw *hw, u32 offset, u32 *length, u8 *data,
 
 		last_cmd = !(bytes_read + read_size < inlen);
 
+		status = ice_acquire_nvm(hw, ICE_RES_READ);
+		if (status)
+			break;
+
 		status = ice_aq_read_nvm(hw, ICE_AQC_NVM_START_POINT,
 					 offset, read_size,
 					 data + bytes_read, last_cmd,
 					 read_shadow_ram, NULL);
-		if (status)
+		if (status) {
+			/* ice_release_nvm() issues an AQ command that would
+			 * overwrite sq_last_status, which some callers
+			 * inspect after a failed read. Preserve the read's
+			 * AQ error across the release.
+			 */
+			aq_err = hw->adminq.sq_last_status;
+
+			ice_release_nvm(hw);
+			hw->adminq.sq_last_status = aq_err;
 			break;
+		}
+
+		ice_release_nvm(hw);
 
 		bytes_read += read_size;
 		offset += read_size;

@@ -330,14 +352,8 @@ ice_read_flash_module(struct ice_hw *hw, enum ice_bank_select bank, u16 module,
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
-	status = ice_acquire_nvm(hw, ICE_RES_READ);
-	if (status)
-		return status;
-
 	status = ice_read_flat_nvm(hw, start + offset, &length, data, false);
 
-	ice_release_nvm(hw);
-
 	return status;
 }
 

@@ -419,24 +435,19 @@ ice_read_netlist_module(struct ice_hw *hw, enum ice_bank_select bank, u32 offset
 }
 
 /**
- * ice_read_sr_word - Reads Shadow RAM word and acquire NVM if necessary
+ * ice_read_sr_word - Reads Shadow RAM word
  * @hw: pointer to the HW structure
  * @offset: offset of the Shadow RAM word to read (0x000000 - 0x001FFF)
  * @data: word read from the Shadow RAM
  *
- * Reads one 16 bit word from the Shadow RAM using the ice_read_sr_word_aq.
+ * Reads one 16 bit word from the Shadow RAM using ice_read_sr_word_aq.
+ *
+ * The NVM lock is acquired and released internally by ice_read_flat_nvm()
+ * around the FW read, so this function must be called without the lock held.
  */
 int ice_read_sr_word(struct ice_hw *hw, u16 offset, u16 *data)
 {
-	int status;
-
-	status = ice_acquire_nvm(hw, ICE_RES_READ);
-	if (!status) {
-		status = ice_read_sr_word_aq(hw, offset, data);
-		ice_release_nvm(hw);
-	}
-
-	return status;
+	return ice_read_sr_word_aq(hw, offset, data);
 }
 
 /**

@@ -856,11 +867,7 @@ int ice_get_inactive_netlist_ver(struct ice_hw *hw, struct ice_netlist_info *net
 static int ice_discover_flash_size(struct ice_hw *hw)
 {
 	u32 min_size = 0, max_size = ICE_AQC_NVM_MAX_OFFSET + 1;
-	int status;
-
-	status = ice_acquire_nvm(hw, ICE_RES_READ);
-	if (status)
-		return status;
+	int status = 0;
 
 	while ((max_size - min_size) > 1) {
 		u32 offset = (max_size + min_size) / 2;

@@ -880,7 +887,7 @@ static int ice_discover_flash_size(struct ice_hw *hw)
 			min_size = offset;
 		} else {
 			/* an unexpected error occurred */
-			goto err_read_flat_nvm;
+			return status;
 		}
 	}
 

@@ -888,9 +895,6 @@ static int ice_discover_flash_size(struct ice_hw *hw)
 
 	hw->flash.flash_size = max_size;
 
-err_read_flat_nvm:
-	ice_release_nvm(hw);
-
 	return status;
 }