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On Wed, Mar 05, 2003 at 08:32:25AM +0000, Mark Gordon wrote: |
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> > > I'm assuming it isn't as simple as changing the version in the |
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> > > filename of the ebuild to make it download the newest version. |
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> > |
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> > Would this be a good time to do the pcmcia-cs-drivers and |
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> > pcmcia-cs-tools split? |
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> |
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> Sounds like it to me. The split works for my combination. |
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|
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So far as I know, the purpose of pcmcia-cs-drivers is to allow you to use |
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the kernel pcmcia driver and the modules from pcmcia-cs, a combination |
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which is not exactly guaranteed to work, but which can be more stable for |
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certain people. |
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|
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I see another advantage, especially as the pcmcia-cs modules are made to |
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work correctly under 2.5 kernels with proper sysfs hotplug interface: the |
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deprecation of the card services tools (cardmgr, cardctl, etc..) This |
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will mean that removable devices will finally have a single interface, if |
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one which is perhaps still a bit immature. |
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|
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I'm looking at details of improving hotplug to add some of the features |
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found in cardmgr and usbmgr, as well as features which are found in |
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neither, but would be nice to have. I've talked with Peter Johanson about |
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some of this stuff mostly on irc. My primary interests with hacking the |
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hotplug stuff in Gentoo are: |
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|
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- User notification (something that can inform non-root processes what |
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hotplug is doing, or at the least communicate success and failure at |
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various stages through beeps and the like the way cardmgr and usbmgr do |
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currently..) |
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|
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- Hotplug device schemes, similar to PCMCIA schemes, but more powerful. |
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To explain: I have onboard ethernet and PCMCIA wireless. Both are |
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modules since having neither loaded conserves power. Can't be sure |
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which will be eth0 and which will be eth1. And simple DHCP works for |
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both interfaces, except for EFN's machine room which needs a static |
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config and a couple of APs which need WEP keys. Plus there are two |
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locations in which connecting to the network should start up VPN stuff! |
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|
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This is beyond PCMCIA schemes, but not beyond hotplug, if someone goes |
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to the effort of writing the glue interface. This is trivial, though, |
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the real problem is interfacing the result with Gentoo's setup without |
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frustrating the hell out of everyone with yet another special case! |
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|
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- Device removal, whether for actually unplugging the device, in the case |
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of a notebook, just stop trying to use it to conserve battery power! I |
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have found that the Linux kernel is horrible about letting you remove |
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an unused device, even if the device is removable as is the case with |
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USB and PCMCIA. cardctl eject <slot#> issued before removing the card |
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does, without fail, cause this problem to go away with PCMCIA. This |
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needs to become a generic thing, possibly part of the sysfs interface |
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to hotplug devices in 2.5. |
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|
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- Uniform device identification, which ties into the above two areas of |
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interest.. My USB pendisk is the example this time - once inserted, I |
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can know that the usb-storage module was loaded, but there is no way to |
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know what disc devices were created by it, especially since they show |
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up in /dev/scsi rather than /dev/usb.. And because USB devices cannot |
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be stopped the way PCMCIA devices can be, the driver does not always |
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give back the SCSI device name it registered, making fstab entries |
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rather pointless. |
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|
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Many devices can be identified in some unique manner. My goal is then |
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to make this unique identifier usable for all of the above purposes. |
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|
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|
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It's a rather ambitious and long-term project, and only parts of it are |
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Gentoo-specific, however there is some advantage to doing this kind of |
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thing on a Gentoo system where things like hotplug and devfsd are pretty |
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much standard components. The schemes developed for hotplug, for example, |
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can easily be used with ANY device on a Gentoo system by virtue of devfs. |
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|
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If others are interested or have been working on similar things, it would |
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be good to share the work, especially given that with work and school I am |
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generally pretty busy these days. Working on my own, it may well be a few |
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months before I have anything to show for my efforts. |
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|
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-- |
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Joseph Carter <knghtbrd@×××.org> I swallowed your goldfish |
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|
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"If the designers of X-Windows built cars, there would be no fewer than |
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five steering wheels hidden about the cockpit, none of which followed the |
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same principles -- but you'd be able to shift gears with your car stereo. |
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Useful feature, that." |
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-- Marus J. Ranum |