Re: [PATCH net-next RFC 00/13] Add devlink reload level option

[Jacob Keller]

On 7/27/2020 10:25 PM, Vasundhara Volam wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 27, 2020 at 4:36 PM Moshe Shemesh <moshe@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> Introduce new option on devlink reload API to enable the user to select the
>> reload level required. Complete support for all levels in mlx5.
>> The following reload levels are supported:
>>   driver: Driver entities re-instantiation only.
>>   fw_reset: Firmware reset and driver entities re-instantiation.
> The Name is a little confusing. I think it should be renamed to
> fw_live_reset (in which both firmware and driver entities are
> re-instantiated).  For only fw_reset, the driver should not undergo
> reset (it requires a driver reload for firmware to undergo reset).
> 

So, I think the differentiation here is that "live_patch" doesn't reset
anything.

>>   fw_live_patch: Firmware live patching only.
> This level is not clear. Is this similar to flashing??
> 
> Also I have a basic query. The reload command is split into
> reload_up/reload_down handlers (Please correct me if this behaviour is
> changed with this patchset). What if the vendor specific driver does
> not support up/down and needs only a single handler to fire a firmware
> reset or firmware live reset command?

In the "reload_down" handler, they would trigger the appropriate reset,
and quiesce anything that needs to be done. Then on reload up, it would
restore and bring up anything quiesced in the first stage.