[Buildroot] [PATCH] wf111: Add mdev dependency

[Baruch Siach]

Hi Charles,

On Wed, Aug 12, 2015 at 05:16:35PM +1200, Charles Manning wrote:
> >> On Tue, Aug 11, 2015 at 11:40 PM, Baruch Siach <baruch at tkos.co.il> wrote:
> >> > On Tue, Aug 11, 2015 at 07:17:02PM +1200, Charles Manning wrote:
> >> >> wf111 really needs mdev
> >> Actually udev would work too.
> >
> > Recent kernels gained the ability to load firmware directly without any help
> > form userspace, so this is probably another option.
> 
> Well not without rewriting the wf111 driver and the associated
> prebuilt "helper" binaries it comes with...
> 
> The wf111 buildroot package unwraps a tarball from Bluegiga, does an
> out of tree build of the kernel modules then copies the modules +
> binaries into the file system tree.
> 
> This isn't "pure" or anything like that, but it gets the job done....
> 
> This is why there is quite a bit of "funkiness" to the wf111 package.

All that should be mentioned in the commit log.

> >> The wf111 driver set uses hotpug to perform the firmware patching
> >> (loading .xbv files).
> >>
> >> From what I have experienced, fw patching is required when you first
> >> fire up a new module and when you change modes (sta only vs ap).
> >
> > Since there are different ways to load the firmware we generally don't make
> > firmware or driver packages build depend on any specific firmware loading
> > mechanism.
> 
> In general you are right, but I think this is a special case.
> 
> wf111 driver + associated files  is built out of tree by a special package.
> 
> That package already has other dependencies that are nothing to do
> with the kernel. eg.BR2_TOOLCHAIN_USES_GLIBC because of those prebuilt
> binaries.
> 
> The prebuilt binaries (and therefore the whole wf111 package) does not
> result in a functioning wf111 subsystem unless there is udev or mdev
> (I've only tested with mdev)., therefore let's be helpful and add the
> dependency.

I'm still not convinced. We use dependencies to express build time or run time 
dependencies. I think the glibc dependency is appropriate, but a hotplug 
mechanism is too broad.

Let's see what others think.

baruch

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