Re: 2.4.22 USB problem (uhci)

From: Jan Rychter
Date: Sat Sep 20 2003 - 19:16:24 EST


>>>>> "Jan" == Jan Rychter <jan@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
>>>>> "Greg" == Greg KH <greg@xxxxxxxxx> writes:
Jan> [...]

> Please allow me to restate the original problem:
>
> -- I usually use uhci instead of usb-uhci, because it is able to go
> into "suspend mode" when no devices are plugged, which allows the CPU
> to enter C3 states,
>
> -- usb-uhci eats CPU power by keeping it in C2 constantly because of
> busmastering DMA activity, therefore being much less useful,
>
> -- uhci generally works for me just fine, but breaks in one
> particular case, when removing the device causes a strange message to
> be printed and the system being unable to use the C3 states again,
> until uhci is unloaded and reloaded back again.
>
> Just as a reminder, this message is:
>
> uhci.c: efe0: host controller halted. very bad
>
> I hope if the message says "very bad", then this is something that
> can be fixed. I was therefore reporting a problem with "uhci" and
> kindly asking for help.

Greg> Ok, sorry for the confusion. No I don't know of a fix for this
Greg> problem, but one just went into the 2.6 kernel tree for the
Greg> uhci-hcd driver that you might want to take a look at that fixed
Greg> a problem almost exactly like this.

Jan> Greg,

Jan> I've looked at uhci.c, the message comes from line 2461, in
Jan> uhci_interrupt. But there is no chance I will be able to fix it
Jan> without first understanding thoroughly how uhci.c works.

Jan> So I guess this goes into my "unfixed Linux bugs" bin.

I've just realized that some people may not know why the above uhci bug
is a problem.

Having done some measurements and calculations, the above uhci bug
translates into a shortened battery life: 20 minutes less for the laptop
I've been testing on. You get 1h30 instead of 1h50 you would normally
get if uhci would work correctly.

That's like having only 84% of your battery available to start with.

--J.

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