> [Good stuff snipped, adding linux-wireless as this is a more > general issue if we are going to consider general framework] > > > Maybe we should start with goals before getting to implementation > details. Here's my wish list that is ath10k specific, but probably > similar to other firmware users: > > 1) We need the firmware crash text currently printed to > /var/log/messages. > > 2) It would be nice to get the firmware RAM and stack dumps at time of > crash to debug more interesting crashes. Right - but typically you'll have closed source / IP / whatever there.. > > 3) It would be nice to know about firmware debug messages for > the period of time directly before the crash (maybe 2-5 minutes?) > > 4) It would be nice to have this interleaved with kernel, supplicant, > and related logs. > > > We need a solution for different types of users. I suspect the number > of crashes seen in the wild will be more for users nearer the top > of this list. > > a) Normal Fedora/Ubuntu/etc default-installed distribution user > with ath10k NIC has wifi issues, firmware crashes, they don't > really know what firmware means or that it crashed, but some automated crash-log > tool notices and gathers debug info for automated bug reporting. I am working on that for our firmware. I recently added such capability relying on udev to notify the userspace that something bad happens. I gather all the data and prepare a binary file that is sent through debugfs (pulled by a script triggered by udev). I remember the first crash only. > > b) Slightly more advanced user actually notices the problem at coffee shop > earlier today, posts about it when they get home, and we ask for > debug info. > > c) Experienced and determined user has similar issues, but is able to > reproduce the problem and/or turn on more advanced debugging efforts. > > d) Even more determined user that can and will recompile kernels and/or > try patches. > > > Anything that has to be enabled before-hand will not help a) and b) above. > > If support is not compiled into default kernels, c) will not help you either. > > If it is difficult or requires acquiring cutting edge tools not in their > distribution by default, many of c) and some of d) will just ignore the problem or use > different hardware. > > If we are storing crashes for something like ethtool to report, we need > RAM and/or disk storage so the firmware RAM dumps and such can be stored until > the user and/or automated tools ask for them. We need some way to automatically > clean up old crashes so disk/ram is not overly utilized. For APs, > they are low on both RAM and 'disk', so storing crash logs for any > length of time may be problematic. I did something simpler - but it works. I don't really know the ethtool infrastructure though. -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-wireless" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
