[PATCH 2/3] i2c: bcm2835: Add support for combined write-read transfer

Tue Sep 20 04:29:20 PDT 2016

> On 20.09.2016, at 12:56, Noralf Trønnes <noralf at tronnes.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Den 20.09.2016 12:15, skrev Martin Sperl:
>> 
>> 
>> On 20.09.2016 10:41, Noralf Trønnes wrote:
>>> 
>>> Den 20.09.2016 09:19, skrev Martin Sperl:
>>>> Hi Noralf!
>>>> 
>>>> On 19.09.2016 17:26, Noralf Trønnes wrote:
>>>>> Some SMBus protocols use Repeated Start Condition to switch from write
>>>>> mode to read mode. Devices like MMA8451 won't work without it.
>>>>> 
>>>>> When downstream implemented support for this in i2c-bcm2708, it broke
>>>>> support for some devices, so a module parameter was added and combined
>>>>> transfer was disabled by default.
>>>>> See https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/599
>>>>> It doesn't seem to have been any investigation into what the problem
>>>>> really was. Later there was added a timeout on the polling loop.
>>>>> 
>>>>> One of the devices mentioned to partially stop working was DS1307.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I have run thousands of transfers to a DS1307 (rtc), MMA8451 (accel)
>>>>> and AT24C32 (eeprom) in parallel without problems.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Signed-off-by: Noralf Trønnes <noralf at tronnes.org>
>>>>> ---
>>>>>  drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-bcm2835.c | 107
>>>>> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
>>>>>  1 file changed, 98 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
>>>> ...
>>>>> @@ -209,8 +289,17 @@ static int bcm2835_i2c_xfer(struct i2c_adapter
>>>>> *adap, struct i2c_msg msgs[],
>>>>>      int i;
>>>>>      int ret = 0;
>>>>>  +    /* Combined write-read to the same address (smbus) */
>>>>> +    if (num == 2 && (msgs[0].addr == msgs[1].addr) &&
>>>>> +        !(msgs[0].flags & I2C_M_RD) && (msgs[1].flags & I2C_M_RD) &&
>>>>> +        (msgs[0].len <= 16)) {
>>>>> +        ret = bcm2835_i2c_xfer_msg(i2c_dev, &msgs[0], &msgs[1]);
>>>>> +
>>>>> +    return ret ? ret : 2;
>>>>> +    }
>>>>> +
>>>>>      for (i = 0; i < num; i++) {
>>>>> -        ret = bcm2835_i2c_xfer_msg(i2c_dev, &msgs[i]);
>>>>> +        ret = bcm2835_i2c_xfer_msg(i2c_dev, &msgs[i], NULL);
>>>>>          if (ret)
>>>>>              break;
>>>>>      }
>>>> This does not seem to implement the i2c_msg api correctly.
>>>> 
>>>> As per comments in include/uapi/linux/i2c.h on line 58 only the last
>>>> message
>>>> in a group should - by default - send a STOP.
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> Apparently it's a known problem that the i2c controller doesn't support
>>> Repeated Start. It will always issue a Stop when it has transferred DLEN
>>> bytes.
>>> Refs:
>>> http://www.circuitwizard.de/raspi-i2c-fix/raspi-i2c-fix.html
>>> http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/31728/has-anyone-successfully-used-i2c-repeated-starts-on-the-pi2-my-scope-says-they 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> UNLESS: a Start Transfer (ST) is issued after Transfer Active (TA) is set
>>> and before DONE is set (or the last byte is shifted, I don't know excatly).
>>> Refs:
>>> https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/254#issuecomment-15254134
>>> https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=807834&sid=2b612c7209f2175bf1a266359c72ae6c#p807834 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I found this answer/report by joan that the downstream combined support
>>> isn't reliable:
>>> http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/31728/has-anyone-successfully-used-i2c-repeated-starts-on-the-pi2-my-scope-says-they 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> My implementation differs from downstream in that I use local_irq_save()
>>> to protect the polling loop. But that only protects from missing the TA
>>> (downstream can miss the TA and issue a Stop).
>>> 
>>> So currently in mainline we have a driver that says it support the standard
>>> (I2C_FUNC_I2C), but it really only supports one message transfers since it
>>> can't do ReStart.
>>> 
>>> What I have done in this patch is to support ReStart for transfers with
>>> 2 messages: first write, then read. But maybe a better solution is to just
>>> leave this alone if it is flaky and use bitbanging instead. I don't know.
>> I have not said that the approach you have taken is wrong or bad.
>> 
> 
> I didn't take it as such, I'm just not sure what's the best approach here,
> so I added and looked up some more information
> 
>> I was only telling you that the portion inside the bcm2835_i2c_xfer:
>> +    /* Combined write-read to the same address (smbus) */
>> +    if (num == 2 && (msgs[0].addr == msgs[1].addr) &&
>> +        !(msgs[0].flags & I2C_M_RD) && (msgs[1].flags & I2C_M_RD) &&
>> +        (msgs[0].len <= 16)) {
>> +        ret = bcm2835_i2c_xfer_msg(i2c_dev, &msgs[0], &msgs[1]);
>> +
>> +        return ret ? ret : 2;
>> +    }
>> is very specific and maybe could be done in a "generic" manner
>> supporting more cases.
>> 
> 
> It has to be specific when it comes to number of messages. We can only
> support ReStart after the first message unless we use polling for the
> whole transfer. And in that case we can't disable interrupts for such
> a long period and we will end up sometimes loosing Transfer Active,
> resulting in Stop Condition between the messages.
> So we can only do transfers with 2 messages if we want Restart.
> 
> It is possible to support more than 16 bytes for the first message,
> filling the FIFO after polling TA, but I'm not sure that is common.
> Mostly it's 1 or 2 bytes to set a register.
> The write-read restriction isn't absolutely necessary either, but it's the
> most common case I think. So it was about reusing bcm2835_i2c_xfer_msg().
> A less restrictive approach would require a dedicated function I think.
> 
>> At least add a dev_warn_once for all num > 1 cases not handled by the
>> code above.
>> 
>> This gives people an opportunity to detect such a situation if they
>> find something is not working as expected.
>> 
> 
> I agree.
> 
> After reading joan's report I wonder if it would be best to add a module
> parameter like downstream has, so it can be disabled. What do you think?
> 

I guess let us start simple:
* get warning in place about always issuing a stop for num > 1
  - instead we may just want to set max_num_msgs = 1 in quirks.
* apply your patch for the write (<=16) then read case.
  - maybe by setting quirks I2C_AQ_COMB_WRITE_THEN_READ
    plus max_comb_1st_msg_len = 16 and max_num_msgs = 2

If this becomes too restrictive for some specific HW, then someone 
may want to add the missing features.

As for the module parameters: no idea if this is acceptable
or sensible.

But that’s just my 2c...

Martin