Re: best way to handle LEDs

[Stefan Smietanowski <stesmi@stesmi.com>]

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Pavel Machek wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> 
>>>>>Except the led code that is being proposed CAN sit on top of a generic
>>>>>GPIO layer.
>>>>
>>>>I also have issues with a generic GPIO layer.  As I mentioned in the
>>>>past, there's serious locking issues with any generic abstraction of
>>>>GPIOs.
>>>>
>>>>1. You want to be able to change GPIO state from interrupts.  This
>>>>   implies you can not sleep in GPIO state changing functions.
>>>>
>>>>2. Some GPIOs are implemented on I2C devices.  This means that to
>>>>   change state, you must sleep.
>>>
>>>Can't you just busywait? Yes, it is ugly in general, but perhaps it
>>>is better than alternatives...
>>
>>Does the i2c layer support busy waiting or are you suggesting something
>>else?
> 
> 
> I'm suggesting that adding busy wait support to i2c is probably good
> idea. GPIOs are on many small machines, and there are machine
> (spitz/akita?) that differ mainly in "where GPIO lines are
> connected". That cries for GPIO layer.
> 							Pavel

Wouldn't it make sense to make either two register functions or one
that takes an extra argument?

register_led(.., .., ..)
and
register_led_irq(.., .., ..)
?

Then register_led() will call register_gpio() and
register_led_irq() will call register_gpio_irq().

If the low level driver (and everything else) can't
be put into busywaiting mode the register_gpio_irq()
will fail which will make register_led_irq() fail.

Naturally it can be
register_led(.., .., ..., use_irq)
and
register_gpio(.., .., .., use_irq)

I haven't looked at the API's so this is just theoretical
on my behalf, but it should solve some issues.

If a driver really really can't be busywait for some reason
then it will fail, otherwise it will switch to busywaiting
instead of sleeping.

Or am I just talking out of my ass?

// Stefan
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