[EXT] Re: [PATCH net-next 02/10] net: phy: phylink: allow 10GKR interface to use in-band negotiation

[Stefan Chulski]

> > > There is no inband negotiation like there is with 802.3z or SGMII,
> > > so this makes no sense.
> >
> > Oh, that's what I feared. I read some docs but probably will need more
> > :)
> >
> > Anyway, the reason to use in-band negotiation was also to avoid using
> > fixed-link. It would work but always report the link is up, which for
> > the user isn't a great experience as we have a way to detect this.
> >
> > What would you suggest to achieve this in a reasonable way?
> 
> The intention of this test in phylink_of_phy_connect() is to avoid failing
> when there is no requirement for a PHY to be present (such as a fixed link, or
> an 802.3z link.)  However, with 10G PHYs such as the 3310, we need the PHY
> so we can read the speed from it, and so know whether to downgrade the
> MAC to SGMII mode, or having downgraded the MAC, upgrade it back to 10G
> mode when the PHY switches to 10G.
> 
> I'm guessing that you're wanting this for the DB boards, but I don't see why.
> Do they not have PHYs?

New Solid Run board MACCHIATObin Single Shot doesn't has  3310 PHY either, like DB boards.
https://www.cnx-software.com/2017/12/20/solidrun-macchiatobin-single-shot-networking-board-launched-for-269-and-up/

Stefan,
Best Regards.