Subject: Re: [PATCH 10/14] ps3: get firmware version

From: Geoff Levand <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 15:27:55 -0800

Geoff Levand wrote:
> Nathan Lynch wrote:
>> Benjamin Herrenschmidt wrote:
>> 
>>> > Anyway, that is the need, the question is where to make it
>>> > available.  I thought /proc/cpuinfo already has the platform type
>>> > (coming from the generic powerpc code), so it would be convenient
>>> > for utilities to have the firmware version there too.  I don't
>>> > think parsing the dmsg is an option for minimal configs like
>>> > bootloaders and distro installers, as they may not keep the boot
>>> > messages around, and in general doesn't seem a reliable way.  If
>>> > you can make a suggestion, I'd like to hear it.
>>>
>>> Yeah, /proc/cpuinfo is actually a fairly convenient place for that...
>> 
>> Other firmwares provide a property in the device tree with version
>> information, for example on Power5:
> 
> But this firmware does not.  The kernel must do it sometime after
> startup.  I don't see any reason why the kernel should try to
> emulate the behavior of firmware on some other platform.

Actually, now that I think about it, your suggestion seems like the best
way to do it :-) 

Since /proc/device-tree/model gives the model, and I can arrange for
/proc/device-tree/firmware to give a firmware version.  I'll just need to
add a property to the tree after bootup.

-Geoff