Re: [PATCH 1/2] igb.txt: Add igb documentation

[Jeff Kirsher]

0On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 19:34, Ben Hutchings <bhutchings@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-08-03 at 17:15 -0700, Jeff Kirsher wrote:
> [...]
>> + ÂJumbo Frames
>> + Â------------
>> + ÂJumbo Frames support is enabled by changing the MTU to a value larger than
>> + Âthe default of 1500. ÂUse the ifconfig command to increase the MTU size.
>> + ÂFor example:
>> +
>> + Â Â Â ifconfig eth<x> mtu 9000 up
>> +
>> + ÂThis setting is not saved across reboots.
>
> Not igb-specific.
>
> [...]
>> + ÂEthtool
>> + Â-------
>> + ÂThe driver utilizes the ethtool interface for driver configuration and
>> + Âdiagnostics, as well as displaying statistical information. ÂEthtool
>> + Âversion 3.0 or later is required for this functionality, although we
>> + Âstrongly recommend downloading the latest version at:
>> +
>> + Âhttp://sourceforge.net/projects/gkernel.
>
> Not igb-specific, and seriously - 3.0?
>
>> + ÂEnabling Wake on LAN* (WoL)
>> + Â---------------------------
>> + ÂWoL is configured through the Ethtool* utility.
>
> Not igb-specific.
>
> [...]
>> + ÂLRO
>> + Â---
>> + ÂLarge Receive Offload (LRO) is a technique for increasing inbound throughput
>> + Âof high-bandwidth network connections by reducing CPU overhead. It works by
>> + Âaggregating multiple incoming packets from a single stream into a larger
>> + Âbuffer before they are passed higher up the networking stack, thus reducing
>> + Âthe number of packets that have to be processed. LRO combines multiple
>> + ÂEthernet frames into a single receive in the stack, thereby potentially
>> + Âdecreasing CPU utilization for receives.
>
> Not igb-specific.
>
>> + ÂNOTE: LRO requires 2.6.24 or later kernel version.
> [...]
>
> Which is irrelevant to an in-tree driver.
>
> Ben.
>
> --
> Ben Hutchings, Senior Software Engineer, Solarflare Communications
> Not speaking for my employer; that's the marketing department's job.
> They asked us to note that Solarflare product names are trademarked.
>

Thanks for the review Ben.

I am fine and agree with removing the reference to Ethtool version 3.0
and reference to LRO requiring 2.6.24 kernel.  Sorry we did not catch
the earlier...

As far as the 4 sections you noted as not being igb-specific, while
these sections are not specific to the driver, I see them as useful to
users trying to find more information on the driver and how to
configure it.  IMHO more documentation is more useful that too little,
as long as you are not adding bloat to the documentation which makes
it difficult to find what you are looking for.

If I am in minority here, I fine with removing the non-igb specific
sections as well.

-- 
Cheers,
Jeff
--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/