Re: [PATCH V3] dt-bindings: nvmem: add U-Boot environment variables binding

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On 10.03.2022 09:45, Michal Simek wrote:


On 3/9/22 16:40, Rob Herring wrote:
On Wed, Mar 09, 2022 at 02:42:43PM +0100, Michal Simek wrote:


On 2/28/22 14:12, Rafał Miłecki wrote:
From: Rafał Miłecki <rafal@xxxxxxxxxx>

U-Boot uses environment variables for storing device setup data. It
usually needs to be accessed by a bootloader, kernel and often
user-space.

This binding allows describing environment data located in a raw flash
partition. It's treated as NVMEM device and can be reused later for
other storage devices.

Using DT should be cleaner than hardcoding & duplicating such info in
multiple places. Bootloader & kernel can share DTS and user-space can
try reading it too or just have correct data exposed by a kernel.

A custom "compatible" string allows system to automatically load
relevant NVMEM driver but phandle can be also used for reading raw
location.

Signed-off-by: Rafał Miłecki <rafal@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
V2: Update descriptions to don't make this binding MTD (flash partition)
      specific. Mention multiple possible storage ways.
V3: Drop
      allOf:
        - $ref: nvmem.yaml#
      as we don't use anything rom the nvmem.yaml. Thanks Rob.
---
   .../devicetree/bindings/nvmem/u-boot,env.yaml | 62 +++++++++++++++++++
   MAINTAINERS                                   |  5 ++
   2 files changed, 67 insertions(+)
   create mode 100644 Documentation/devicetree/bindings/nvmem/u-boot,env.yaml

diff --git a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/nvmem/u-boot,env.yaml b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/nvmem/u-boot,env.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e70b2a60cb9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/nvmem/u-boot,env.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only OR BSD-2-Clause
+%YAML 1.2
+---
+$id: http://devicetree.org/schemas/nvmem/u-boot,env.yaml#
+$schema: http://devicetree.org/meta-schemas/core.yaml#
+
+title: U-Boot environment variables
+
+description: |
+  U-Boot uses environment variables to store device parameters and
+  configuration. They may be used for booting process, setup or keeping end user
+  info.
+
+  Data is stored using U-Boot specific formats (variant specific header and NUL
+  separated key-value pairs).
+
+  Environment data can be stored on various storage entities, e.g.:
+  1. Raw flash partition
+  2. UBI volume
+
+  This binding allows marking storage device (as containing env data) and
+  specifying used format.
+
+  Right now only flash partition case is covered but it may be extended to e.g.
+  UBI volumes in the future.
+
+maintainers:
+  - Rafał Miłecki <rafal@xxxxxxxxxx>
+
+properties:
+  compatible:
+    oneOf:
+      - description: A standalone env data block
+        const: u-boot,env
+      - description: Two redundant blocks with active one flagged
+        const: u-boot,env-redundant-bool
+      - description: Two redundant blocks with active having higher counter
+        const: u-boot,env-redundant-count
+
+  reg:
+    maxItems: 1
+
+additionalProperties: false
+
+examples:
+  - |
+    partitions {
+        compatible = "fixed-partitions";
+        #address-cells = <1>;
+        #size-cells = <1>;
+
+        partition@0 {
+            reg = <0x0 0x40000>;
+            label = "u-boot";
+            read-only;
+        };
+
+        env: partition@40000 {
+            compatible = "u-boot,env";
+            reg = <0x40000 0x10000>;
+        };
+    };
diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index db8052bc1d26..24fc181a7e6c 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -19958,6 +19958,11 @@ W:    http://linuxtv.org
   T:    git git://linuxtv.org/media_tree.git
   F:    drivers/media/pci/tw686x/
+U-BOOT ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
+M:    Rafał Miłecki <rafal@xxxxxxxxxx>
+S:    Maintained
+F:    Documentation/devicetree/bindings/nvmem/u-boot,env.yaml
+
   UACCE ACCELERATOR FRAMEWORK
   M:    Zhangfei Gao <zhangfei.gao@xxxxxxxxxx>
   M:    Zhou Wang <wangzhou1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

I think that parsing these partitions is quite sw intensive process and I
can't still see the value to have compatible string here.

It's always good to know what a node represents.

Also agree but isn't it enough to use proper label for it?

Let me quote Rob here:

> 'label' is supposed to correspond to a sticker on a port or something
> human identifiable

^^ https://patchwork.ozlabs.org/comment/2812214/

"label" is already abused for naming MTD partitions, I don't think it's
a good idea to abuse it even more for different purposes. Also
"compatible" is a standard way for describing hardware blocks & various
entities (identifying them).


I'm also wondering if using "label" instead of "compatible" wouldn't
require breaking changes in some DT files. What if someone uses a random
"label" (e.g. "ub00tenv") and has user-space based on that MTD partition
name?
If we require changing "label" that will require people to also update
names in other places (user-space).
I'm not sure how valid is that argument, just wondering.



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