lkml.org 
[lkml]   [2019]   [May]   [15]   [last100]   RSS Feed
Views: [wrap][no wrap]   [headers]  [forward] 
 
Messages in this thread
/
Date
From
SubjectRe: [PATCH] staging: Add rtl8821ce PCIe WiFi driver
On Thu, May 16, 2019 at 01:40:00AM +0800, Kai-Heng Feng wrote:
> at 00:39, Greg KH <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
>
> > On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 09:06:44PM +0800, Kai-Heng Feng wrote:
> > > at 20:33, Greg KH <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 07:54:58PM +0800, Kai-Heng Feng wrote:
> > > > > at 19:40, Greg KH <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 07:24:01PM +0800, Kai-Heng Feng wrote:
> > > > > > > The rtl8821ce can be found on many HP and Lenovo laptops.
> > > > > > > Users have been using out-of-tree module for a while,
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The new Realtek WiFi driver, rtw88, will support rtl8821ce in 2020 or
> > > > > > > later.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Where is that driver, and why is it going to take so
> > > > > > long to get merged?
> > > > >
> > > > > rtw88 is in 5.2 now, but it doesn’t support 8821ce yet.
> > > > >
> > > > > They plan to add the support in 2020.
> > > >
> > > > Who is "they" and what is needed to support this device and why wait a
> > > > full year?
> > >
> > > “They” refers to Realtek.
> > > It’s their plan so I can’t really answer that on behalf of Realtek.
> >
> > Where did they say that? Any reason their developers are not on this
> > patch?
> >
> > > > > > > 296 files changed, 206166 insertions(+)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Ugh, why do we keep having to add the whole mess for
> > > > > > every single one of
> > > > > > these devices?
> > > > >
> > > > > Because Realtek devices are unfortunately ubiquitous so the support is
> > > > > better come from kernel.
> > > >
> > > > That's not the issue here. The issue is that we keep adding the same
> > > > huge driver files to the kernel tree, over and over, with no real change
> > > > at all. We have seen almost all of these files in other realtek
> > > > drivers, right?
> > >
> > > Yes. They use one single driver to support different SoCs, different
> > > architectures and even different OSes.
> >
> > Well, they try to, it doesn't always work :(
> >
> > > That’s why it’s a mess.
> >
> > Oh we all know why this is a mess. But they have been saying for
> > _years_ they would clean up this mess. So push back, I'm not going to
> > take another 200k lines for a simple wifi driver, again.
> >
> > Along those lines, we should probably just delete the other old realtek
> > drivers that don't seem to be going anywhere from staging as well,
> > because those are just confusing people.
> >
> > > > Why not use the ones we already have?
> > >
> > > It’s virtually impossible because Realtek’s mega wifi driver uses tons of
> > > #ifdefs, only one chip can be selected to be supported at compile time.
> >
> > That's not what I asked.
> >
> > I want to know why they can't just add support for their new devices to
> > one of the many existing realtek drivers we already have. That is the
> > simpler way, and the correct way to do this. We don't do this by adding
> > 200k lines, again.
> >
> > > > But better yet, why not add proper support for this hardware and not use
> > > > a staging driver?
> > >
> > > Realtek plans to add the support in 2020, if everything goes well.
> >
> > Device "goes well" please. And when in 2020? And why 2020? Why not
> > 2022? 2024?
> >
> > > Meanwhile, many users of HP and Lenovo laptops are using out-of-tree
> > > driver,
> > > some of them are stuck to older kernels because they don’t know how to fix
> > > the driver. So I strongly think having this in kernel is beneficial
> > > to many
> > > users, even it’s only for a year.
> >
> > So who is going to be responsible for "fixing the driver" for all new
> > kernel api updates? I'm tired of seeing new developers get lost in the
> > maze of yet-another realtek wifi driver. We've been putting up with
> > this crud for years, and it has not gotten any better if you want to add
> > another 200k lines for some unknown amount of time with the hope that a
> > driver might magically show up one day.
>
> I have no idea why they haven’t made everything upstream, and I do hope they
> did a better job, so I don’t need to cleanup their driver and send it
> upstream :(
>
> So basically I can’t answer any of your questions. As Larry suggested, their
> driver should be hosted separately and maybe by downstream distro.

As it sounds like you have talked to these developers (i.e. they told
you 2020), you do have a way to communicate our concerns. Please do
that, or feel free to send me their contact information and I will be
glad to talk to them about this.

thanks,

greg k-h

\
 
 \ /
  Last update: 2019-05-15 19:49    [W:0.068 / U:0.552 seconds]
©2003-2020 Jasper Spaans|hosted at Digital Ocean and TransIP|Read the blog|Advertise on this site