On Tue, Jun 05, 2007 at 11:45:07AM +0100, Maciej W. Rozycki wrote: > This is an optimised implementation of early printk() for the DECstation. > After the recent conversion to a MIPS-specific generic routine using a > character-by-character output the performance dropped significantly. > This change reverts to the previous speed -- even at 9600 bps of the > serial console the difference is visible with a naked eye; I presume for a > framebuffer it is even worse (it may depend on exactly which one is used > though). > > Additionally the change includes a fix for a problem that the old > implementation had -- the format used would not actually limit the length > of the string output. This new implementation uses a local buffer to deal > with it -- even with this additional copying it is much faster than the > generic function. > > Plus this driver is registered much earlier than the generic one, > allowing one to see critical messages, such as one about an incorrect CPU > setting used, that are produced beforehand. :-) Queued up for 2.6.23, too. > As a side note, the SYS_HAS_EARLY_PRINTK option could probably be called > SYS_HAS_GENERIC_EARLY_PRINTK or something... I take a patch to rename this :-) Ralf
