[PATCH] arm: Add Arm Erratum 773769 for Large data RAM latency.

[Doug Anderson]

Nicolas,

On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 1:08 PM, Nicolas Pitre <nico at fluxnic.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 8 Jan 2014, Doug Anderson wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 11:20 AM, Russell King - ARM Linux
>> > No, we're saying to put the work-around in the boot loader, not the kernel.
>>
>> Unfortunately the resume path of the firmware runs from Read Only
>> firmware code (yes, it sucks), so it's not totally trivial to fix. It
>> would be possible for someone to unscrew their write protect switch
>> and update their RO firmware, but that doesn't help the average user.
>
> [...]
>
>> I'd guess that the way forward is:
>>
>> * Land kernel workaround locally in Chromium tree
>>
>> * I'll try to land FW change locally in at least one Chromium branch.
>> If we were to get a new RO build ever (seems unlikely at this point)
>> it would be fixed for upstream kernels.  If we were to get a new RW
>> build (seems unlikely, but at least less unlikely) it would be fixed
>> if someone landed a kernel patch to save/restore this register across
>> suspend/resume.
>>
>> * If Joe Upstream wants to run an upstream kernel on some type of
>> exynos5250 product (Samsung ARM Chromebook, HP Chromebook 11, Nexus 10
>> are the ones I know of) then he will deal with the small number of
>> crashes or figure out a solution.
>
> If Joe Upstream wants to run an upstream kernel, doesn't he have to
> unscrew his write protect switch first, at which point the RO firmware
> can be updated as well?

Actually, no.  You can move your device into dev mode and run any
kernel you want.  You'll get an annoying "you're in dev mode" screen
at every bootup, but otherwise it works just fine.

Going into dev mode requires some special keystrokes at bootup and a
wipe of your hard disk but no screwdrivers.


-Doug