Re: [PATCH net-next v4 2/5] net/lapb: support netdev events

From: Martin Schiller <ms@dev.tdt.de>
To: Xie He <xie.he.0141@gmail.com>
Cc: Andrew Hendry <andrew.hendry@gmail.com>,
	"David S. Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>,
	Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>,
	Linux X25 <linux-x25@vger.kernel.org>,
	Linux Kernel Network Developers <netdev@vger.kernel.org>,
	LKML <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH net-next v4 2/5] net/lapb: support netdev events
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2020 10:00:02 +0100	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <d85a4543eae46bac1de28ec17a2389dd@dev.tdt.de> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <CAJht_EPc8MF1TjznSjWTPyMbsrw3JVqxST5g=eF0yf_zasUdeA@mail.gmail.com>

On 2020-11-23 09:31, Xie He wrote:
> On Sun, Nov 22, 2020 at 10:55 PM Martin Schiller <ms@dev.tdt.de> wrote:
>> 
>> No, they aren't independent. The carrier can only be up if the device 
>> /
>> interface is UP. And as far as I can see a NETDEV_CHANGE event will 
>> also
>> only be generated on interfaces that are UP.
>> 
>> So you can be sure, that if there is a NETDEV_CHANGE event then the
>> device is UP.
> 
> OK. Thanks for your explanation!
> 
>> I removed the NETDEV_UP handling because I don't think it makes sense
>> to implicitly try to establish layer2 (LAPB) if there is no carrier.
> 
> As I understand, when the device goes up, the carrier can be either
> down or up. Right?
> 
> If this is true, when a device goes up and the carrier then goes up
> after that, L2 will automatically connect, but if a device goes up and
> the carrier is already up, L2 will not automatically connect. I think
> it might be better to eliminate this difference in handling. It might
> be better to make it automatically connect in both situations, or in
> neither situations.

AFAIK the carrier can't be up before the device is up. Therefore, there
will be a NETDEV_CHANGE event after the NETDEV_UP event.

This is what I can see in my tests (with the HDLC interface).

Is the behaviour different for e.g. lapbether?

> 
> If you want to go with the second way (auto connect in neither
> situations), the next (3rd) patch of this series might be also not
> needed.
> 
> I just want to make the behavior of LAPB more consistent. I think we
> should either make LAPB auto-connect in all situations, or make LAPB
> wait for L3's instruction to connect in all situations.
> 
>> And with the first X.25 connection request on that interface, it will
>> be established anyway by x25_transmit_link().
>> 
>> I've tested it here with an HDLC WAN Adapter and it works as expected.
>> 
>> These are also the ideal conditions for the already mentioned "on
>> demand" scenario. The only necessary change would be to call
>> x25_terminate_link() on an interface after clearing the last X.25
>> session.
>> 
>> > On NETDEV_GOING_DOWN, we can also check the carrier status first and
>> > if it is down, we don't need to call lapb_disconnect_request.
>> 
>> This is not necessary because lapb_disconnect_request() checks the
>> current state. And if the carrier is DOWN then the state should also 
>> be
>> LAPB_STATE_0 and so lapb_disconnect_request() does nothing.
> 
> Yes, I understand. I just thought adding this check might make the
> code cleaner. But you are right.