[RFC PATCH net v2 0/3] Fix OdroidC2 Gigabit Tx link issue

[Jerome Brunet]

On Thu, 2016-11-24 at 18:10 +0100, Martin Blumenstingl wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 24, 2016 at 5:01 PM, Jerome Brunet <jbrunet at baylibre.com>
> wrote:
> > 
> > On Thu, 2016-11-24 at 15:40 +0100, Martin Blumenstingl wrote:
> > > 
> > > Hi Jerome,
> > > 
> > > On Mon, Nov 21, 2016 at 4:35 PM, Jerome Brunet <jbrunet at baylibre.
> > > com>
> > > wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > This patchset fixes an issue with the OdroidC2 board (DWMAC +
> > > > RTL8211F).
> > > > Initially reported as a low Tx throughput issue at gigabit
> > > > speed,
> > > > the
> > > > platform enters LPI too often. This eventually break the link
> > > > (both
> > > > Tx
> > > > and Rx), and require to bring the interface down and up again
> > > > to
> > > > get the
> > > > Rx path working again.
> > > > 
> > > > The root cause of this issue is not fully understood yet but
> > > > disabling EEE
> > > > advertisement on the PHY prevent this feature to be negotiated.
> > > > With this change, the link is stable and reliable, with the
> > > > expected
> > > > throughput performance.
> > > I have just sent a series which allows configuring the TX delay
> > > on
> > > the
> > > MAC (dwmac-meson8b glue) side: [0]
> > > Disabling the TX delay generated by the MAC fixes TX throughput
> > > for
> > > me, even when leaving EEE enabled in the RTL8211F PHY driver!
> > > 
> > > Unfortunately the RTL8211F PHY is a black-box for the community
> > > because there is no public datasheeet available.
> > > *maybe* (pure speculation!) they're enabling the TX delay based
> > > on
> > > some internal magic only when EEE is enabled.
> > 
> > Hi already tried acting on the register setting the TX_delay. I
> > also
> > tried on the PHY. I never been able to improve situation on the
> > Odroic2. Only disabling EEE improved the situation.
> OK, thanks for clarifying this!
> 
> > 
> > To make sure, i tried again with your patch but the result remains
> > unchanged. With Tx_delay disabled (either the mac or the phy), the
> > situation is even worse, it seems that nothing gets through
> This is interesting, because in your case you should have a 4ns TX
> delay (2ns from the MAC and presumably 2ns from the PHY).
> Maybe that is also the reason why the TX delay is configurable in 2ns
> steps in PRG_ETHERNET0 on Amlogic SoCs.
> 
> out of curiosity: have you tried setting a 4ns (half clock-cycle) TX
> delay for the MAC and disabling it in the PHY?

Just replied on the other thread. Long story short, Odroidc2 seems to
really require EEE to be switched off.

Again, thx for your help Martin

> 
> 
> Regards,
> Martin