cvs commit: src/sys/compat/ndis ndis_var.h src/sys/dev/if_ndis if_ndis.c if_ndisvar.h

[Bill Paul]

> * Bill Paul <wpaul at FreeBSD.org> [040108 02:44] wrote:
> >   Using these tweaks, I can now get the Broadcom BCM5701 NDIS
> >   driver to load and run. Unfortunately, the version I have seems
> >   to suffer from the same bug as the SMC 83820 driver, which is
> >   that it creates a spinlock during its DriverEntry() routine.
> >   I'm still debating the right way to deal with this.
> 
> What problem does that present?

Here are the comments in subr_ndis.c:ndis_lock() which you chose
not to read:

        /*
         * Workaround for certain broken NDIS drivers. I have
         * encountered one case where a driver creates a spinlock
         * within its DriverEntry() routine, which is then destroyed
         * in its MiniportHalt() routine. This is a bug, because
         * MiniportHalt() is meant to only destroy what MiniportInit()
         * creates. This leads to the following problem:
         *     DriverEntry() <- spinlock created
         *     MiniportInit() <- NIC initialized
         *     MiniportHalt() <- NIC halted, spinlock destroyed
         *     MiniportInit() <- NIC initialized, spinlock not recreated
         *     NdisAcquireSpinLock(boguslock) <- panic
         * To work around this, we poison the spinlock on destroy, and
         * if we try to re-acquire the poison pill^Wspinlock, we init
         * it again so subsequent calls will work.
         *
         * Drivers that behave in this way are likely not officially
         * certified by Microsoft, since their I would expect the
         * Microsoft NDIS test tool to catch mistakes like this.
         */

The BCM5701 driver I used came off a CD that 3Com sent me with the
card a year or two ago, so it's possible they've fixed/changed the
behavior.

-Bill

--
=============================================================================
-Bill Paul            (510) 749-2329 | Senior Engineer, Master of Unix-Fu
                 wpaul at windriver.com | Wind River Systems
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              <adamw> you're just BEGGING to face the moose
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