Re: [PATCH v3 2/3] arm64:?==?utf-8?q? dts: rockchip: Turn on heartbeat LED at boot for Radxa boards

[Dragan Simic]

Hello Naoki,

(+ Quentin)

On Thursday, November 13, 2025 13:42 CET, FUKAUMI Naoki <naoki at radxa.com> wrote:
> Currently, on Radxa boards, the power LED is turned on immediately
> after power-up, independent of software control. The heartbeat LED and
> other available LEDs are subsequently turned on by the initial
> software, such as U-Boot, to indicate software is running.
> 
> However, the device tree description for this behavior is inconsistent
> and fragmented, with definitions split between the main Linux DTS
> files and separate U-Boot files (u-boot/arch/arm/dts/*-u-boot.dtsi).
> 
> This patch addresses the description fragmentation for the heartbeat
> LED by consolidating its default-state = "on" definition from the
> U-Boot files into the main Linux DTS.
> 
> - Radxa CM3 IO board
>   https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/v2025.10/arch/arm/dts/rk3566-radxa-cm3-io-u-boot.dtsi#L10-12
> 
> - Radxa CM3I
>   https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/v2025.10/arch/arm/dts/rk3568-radxa-e25-u-boot.dtsi#L7-24
> 
> - Radxa ROCK 3A
>   https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/v2025.10/arch/arm/dts/rk3568-rock-3a-u-boot.dtsi#L11-13
> 
> - Radxa ROCK 3C
>   https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/v2025.10/arch/arm/dts/rk3566-rock-3c-u-boot.dtsi#L14-16
> 
> - Radxa ROCK 4C+
>   https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/v2025.10/arch/arm/dts/rk3399-rock-4c-plus-u-boot.dtsi#L11-17
> 
> - Radxa ROCK 4D
>   (New)
> 
> - Radxa ROCK 4SE
>   Radxa ROCK Pi 4A/A+/B/B+/C
>   https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/v2025.10/arch/arm/dts/rk3399-rock-pi-4-u-boot.dtsi#L11-13
> 
> - Radxa ROCK 5A
>   https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/v2025.10/arch/arm/dts/rk3588s-rock-5a-u-boot.dtsi#L10-12
> 
> - Radxa ROCK 5B
>   https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/v2025.10/arch/arm/dts/rk3588-rock-5b-u-boot.dtsi#L11-13
> 
> - Radxa ROCK 5B+/5T
>   (New)
> 
> - Radxa ROCK Pi E
>   https://source.denx.de/u-boot/u-boot/-/blob/v2025.10/arch/arm/dts/rk3328-rock-pi-e-base-u-boot.dtsi#L10-12
> 
> Signed-off-by: FUKAUMI Naoki <naoki at radxa.com>
> ---
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3328-rock-pi-e.dts    | 1 +
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3399-rock-4c-plus.dts | 1 +
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3399-rock-pi-4.dtsi   | 1 +
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3566-radxa-cm3-io.dts | 1 +
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3566-rock-3c.dts      | 1 +
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3568-radxa-cm3i.dtsi  | 1 +
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3568-rock-3a.dts      | 1 +
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3576-rock-4d.dts      | 1 +
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3588-rock-5b.dtsi     | 1 +
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3588-rock-5t.dts      | 1 +
>  arch/arm64/boot/dts/rockchip/rk3588s-rock-5a.dts     | 1 +
>  11 files changed, 11 insertions(+)

[snip]

I'm sorry, but I disagree with the employed approach.  As already
discussed at length in the v2 of this series, the right and more
useful approach would be to use the LED_BOOT feature in U-Boot and
to move the associated DT definitions from the U-Boot-specific DTs
to the Linux kernel's DTs.

IIUC, there are still some issues with the way U-Boot handles the
LEDs on some Radxa boards that way, [2] but the right approach would
be to get the DT changes implemented now, and resolve the issues
at the U-Boot side afterwards.  It will take a while anyway until
the kernel's DT changes reach U-Boot, so there should be plenty of
time to resolve the observed U-Boot issues.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-rockchip/20251111054112.55505-1-naoki@radxa.com/T/#u
[2] https://libera.catirclogs.org/linux-rockchip/2025-11-13#1763038074-1763038779;