Re: [PATCH] DMI: log system, BIOS, and board information

[Bjorn Helgaas]

On Wednesday, September 29, 2010 03:26:23 pm Alan Cox wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:24:02 -0600
> Bjorn Helgaas <bjorn.helgaas@xxxxxx> wrote:
> > 
> > Put basic system information in the dmesg log.  There are lots of dmesg
> > logs on the web, and it would be useful if they contained this information
> > for debugging platform problems.
> > 
> > DMI often doesn't supply a board name, but I assume the others are pretty
> > standard.
> 
> You need to filter the characters before printing them in the log. Some
> platforms contain binary garbage.

Oh, good point.  Filtering sounds feasible in concept, at least.

> It's also the wrong thing in most cases because the key data is in sysfs
> so your bug capturing tool can collect it.

Sure, there's no question that this information and a lot more is
easily available elsewhere.

Most of the bug reports I see are not generated by bug capturing
tools; they're generated by Joe User posting a dmesg log.  For many
platform issues, it would be quite useful if that log already contained
a hint about what platform it is.  The collection of dmesg logs on
the web + Google indexing + a platform ID would be a great help in
locating similar failures and contacting testers.

Bjorn
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