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[RFC,0/4] Remove some e500/MPC85xx evaluation platforms

Message ID 20230221194637.28436-1-paul.gortmaker@windriver.com (mailing list archive)
Headers show
Series Remove some e500/MPC85xx evaluation platforms | expand

Message

Paul Gortmaker Feb. 21, 2023, 7:46 p.m. UTC
[This RFC is proposed for v6.4 and hence is based off linux-next.]

In a similar theme to the e300/MPC83xx evaluation platform removal[1],
this targets removal of some 13 --> 21 year old e500/MPC85xx evaluation
boards that were produced in limited numbers and primarily made available
to hardware/software developers to shape their own boards and BSPs.

We start with the MPC8540-ADS[2] and MPC8560-ADS[3] -- based on the revision
history in the user's guide[4], these near-identical platforms date back to
at least 2002.  These boards are probably a part of the very small few that
still exist from the ppc ---> powerpc transition.  Typical of evaluation
boards, and as the picture[3] shows, these boards had a large footprint in
order to break out connectors to evaluate as many features as possible.

While it is up to each board OEM to provide input on the EOL of support
for their own product, I will note that for comparison that I retired our
SBC8560 support over a decade ago, in v3.6 (2012, in commit b048b4e17cbb)
and nobody complained.

Next, position yourself about 2007, and the MPC8548CDS (and variants)
appeared as a vehicle to showcase the then new e500-v2 processor family,
in a PCI-X card form factor with an additional backplane and the CPU on
yet another daughter-card.  Not very "hobbyist" friendly.  As the saying
goes, a picture[5] is worth 1000 words.

Again, for comparison, and perhaps well overdue, I'd requested removal of
our SBC8548 support in Jan 2021 (c12adb067844, v5.15).

Still roughly in the 2007 era, the MPC8568-MDS[6] just might have been the
2nd last in the MDS line that was similar to the MPC83xx-MDS in general
form factor.  However, as can be seen in the User Guide picture, the
PCI/PCI-X card edge has been deleted.

A semi-recent change in the Kconfig descriptions, in commit d20c96deb3e2
("powerpc/85xx: Fix description of MPC85xx and P1/P2 boards options") made
it clear some of the MPC8568-MDS support was shared/reused by the lower
end of the next gen DDR3 enabled processor family -- QorIQ -- in the
P1021/P1012 MDS[7] platforms.  This MDS variant re-added a PCI-e card edge
but retained the MDS form factor and overall goal of enabling hardware
designs for OEM board manufacturers.

Given that, we also include the P1021/P1012 MDS in this series, so that we
can then remove the MPC85xx_MDS Kconfig option and anything relying on it.

Finally, we remove some orphaned MPC85xx kernel config fragments.

Future considerations:
----------------------
Similar to the e300/MPC83xx series, what is NOT touched here is any of the
e500/MPC85xx RDS or DS platforms.

DS platforms -- In the next MPC85xx platform evolution, the M or C was
dropped from MDS/CDS designation -- as the evaluation systems dropped the
"card+backplane" architecture and more closely resembled a typical full
sized PC-ATX motherboard of the era, with soldered CPU mounted high; RAM
sockets nearby, and ATX compliant PCI slots below that.

However the feature rich, evaluation goal was retained in this new
Development System (DS) line.  Contrast that with the RDS systems which
were a smaller form factor and with only core/critical features exposed to
connectors, and a ready to deploy to market as-is for the overall goal.

With that in mind, in the future we may want to consider looking at the
removal of the e500-v2 DS (MP8572DS[8], MPC8544DS[9], ...) platforms.
However there is now once again overlap with the newer P1/P2 procfam DS
systems from the same commit, and this time not under the MDS umbrella.

Paul.
--

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20230220115913.25811-1-paul.gortmaker@windriver.com/
[2] https://www.nxp.com/products/no-longer-manufactured/application-development-system-for-mpc8540:MPC8540ADS
[3] https://www.nxp.com/products/no-longer-manufactured/application-development-system-for-mpc8560:MPC8560ADS
[4] https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/reference-manual/MPC8560ADSUG.pdf
[5] https://www.flickr.com/photos/daiharuki/905150424/in/photostream/
[6] https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/user-guide/MPC8568EMDSPBUGAD.pdf
[7] https://www.nxp.com/design/qoriq-developer-resources/qoriq-p1021-p1012-modular-development-system:P1021MDS
[8] https://www.nxp.com/products/no-longer-manufactured/integrated-communications-processor-development-system:MPC8572DS
[9] https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/fact-sheet/MPC8544DSFS.pdf

Cc: Scott Wood <oss@buserror.net>
Cc: Michael Ellerman <mpe@ellerman.id.au>
Cc: Benjamin Herrenschmidt <benh@kernel.crashing.org>
Cc: Paul Mackerras <paulus@samba.org>
Cc: Li Yang <leoyang.li@nxp.com>
Cc: Claudiu Manoil <claudiu.manoil@nxp.com>
Cc: Pali Rohár <pali@kernel.org>

---

Paul Gortmaker (4):
  powerpc: drop MPC8540_ADS and MPC8560_ADS platform support
  powerpc: drop MPC85xx_CDS platform support
  powerpc: drop MPC8568_MDS / P1021_MDS platform support
  powerpc: remove orphaned MPC85xx kernel config fragments.

 arch/powerpc/boot/Makefile                    |   5 -
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8540ads.dts      | 355 ----------------
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8541cds.dts      | 375 -----------------
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds.dtsi     | 302 -------------
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds_32b.dts  |  82 ----
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds_36b.dts  |  82 ----
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8555cds.dts      | 375 -----------------
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8560ads.dts      | 388 -----------------
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568mds.dts      | 310 --------------
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568si-post.dtsi | 270 ------------
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568si-pre.dtsi  |  68 ---
 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/p1021mds.dts        | 319 --------------
 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-32bit.config        |   5 -
 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-hw.config           | 139 ------
 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-smp.config          |   2 -
 .../configs/85xx/mpc8540_ads_defconfig        |  47 ---
 .../configs/85xx/mpc8560_ads_defconfig        |  50 ---
 .../configs/85xx/mpc85xx_cds_defconfig        |  52 ---
 arch/powerpc/configs/mpc85xx_base.config      |   3 -
 arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/Makefile          |   3 -
 arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_ads.c     | 171 --------
 arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_cds.c     | 397 -----------------
 arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_mds.c     | 398 ------------------
 23 files changed, 4198 deletions(-)
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8540ads.dts
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8541cds.dts
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds.dtsi
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds_32b.dts
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds_36b.dts
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8555cds.dts
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8560ads.dts
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568mds.dts
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568si-post.dtsi
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568si-pre.dtsi
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/p1021mds.dts
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-32bit.config
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-hw.config
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-smp.config
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx/mpc8540_ads_defconfig
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx/mpc8560_ads_defconfig
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx/mpc85xx_cds_defconfig
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_ads.c
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_cds.c
 delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_mds.c

Comments

Pali Rohár Feb. 21, 2023, 8:13 p.m. UTC | #1
Hello! I would like to let you know that I have there patch series which
creates one generic machine descriptor for all P2 boards:
https://lore.kernel.org/linuxppc-dev/20230218111405.27688-1-pali@kernel.org/

Basically it allows any P2 board to boot one universal kernel binary
just with correct DTS file. After P2 is merged I was thinking about
looking at P1 boards too.

So I would suggest to do some "big" removal of older code after this is
merged, so I do not have to rebase again my patch series which is
basically cleanup and make maintenance easier.

I understand that removing old machine descriptions with board code for
old boards which nobody use and nobody wants to maintain is logical
step.

But if something like generic machine descriptor for P1 happens too
(like I did for P2 in above patch series), it would mean that the only
board specific information would be stored in DTS files.
And does it make sense to remove just old DTS files? Are there any
maintenance with them? (Do not take it wrong, just I'm asking)
Paul Gortmaker Feb. 21, 2023, 9:35 p.m. UTC | #2
[Re: [RFC PATCH 0/4] Remove some e500/MPC85xx evaluation platforms] On 21/02/2023 (Tue 21:13) Pali Roh??r wrote:

> Hello! I would like to let you know that I have there patch series which
> creates one generic machine descriptor for all P2 boards:
> https://lore.kernel.org/linuxppc-dev/20230218111405.27688-1-pali@kernel.org/
> 
> Basically it allows any P2 board to boot one universal kernel binary
> just with correct DTS file. After P2 is merged I was thinking about
> looking at P1 boards too.
> 
> So I would suggest to do some "big" removal of older code after this is
> merged, so I do not have to rebase again my patch series which is
> basically cleanup and make maintenance easier.

Thanks for the update -- I don't want to make extra work for anyone.

If I drop the MPC8568/P1 removal for now, then would you agree that your work
and the remaining changes - this ADS/CDS removal can continue in parallel?

Thanks,
Paul.
--

> 
> I understand that removing old machine descriptions with board code for
> old boards which nobody use and nobody wants to maintain is logical
> step.
> 
> But if something like generic machine descriptor for P1 happens too
> (like I did for P2 in above patch series), it would mean that the only
> board specific information would be stored in DTS files.
> And does it make sense to remove just old DTS files? Are there any
> maintenance with them? (Do not take it wrong, just I'm asking)
Pali Rohár Feb. 21, 2023, 10 p.m. UTC | #3
On Tuesday 21 February 2023 16:35:54 Paul Gortmaker wrote:
> [Re: [RFC PATCH 0/4] Remove some e500/MPC85xx evaluation platforms] On 21/02/2023 (Tue 21:13) Pali Roh??r wrote:
> 
> > Hello! I would like to let you know that I have there patch series which
> > creates one generic machine descriptor for all P2 boards:
> > https://lore.kernel.org/linuxppc-dev/20230218111405.27688-1-pali@kernel.org/
> > 
> > Basically it allows any P2 board to boot one universal kernel binary
> > just with correct DTS file. After P2 is merged I was thinking about
> > looking at P1 boards too.
> > 
> > So I would suggest to do some "big" removal of older code after this is
> > merged, so I do not have to rebase again my patch series which is
> > basically cleanup and make maintenance easier.
> 
> Thanks for the update -- I don't want to make extra work for anyone.
> 
> If I drop the MPC8568/P1 removal for now, then would you agree that your work
> and the remaining changes - this ADS/CDS removal can continue in parallel?

I hope that Christophe review my patches soon.

I'm looking again at my and your changes and seems that there should not
be conflicts because my patches touches only mpc85xx_ds.c+mpc85xx_rdb.c
and your changes touches remaining mpc85xx_*.c board files.

About P1 I have not decided if I do some code work in this area.
I wanted to look at it (and if it is big maybe I just drop my idea).

So I think both your and my patch series could continue in parallel (in
case they are not going to be bigger).

> Thanks,
> Paul.
> --
> 
> > 
> > I understand that removing old machine descriptions with board code for
> > old boards which nobody use and nobody wants to maintain is logical
> > step.
> > 
> > But if something like generic machine descriptor for P1 happens too
> > (like I did for P2 in above patch series), it would mean that the only
> > board specific information would be stored in DTS files.
> > And does it make sense to remove just old DTS files? Are there any
> > maintenance with them? (Do not take it wrong, just I'm asking)
Leo Li Feb. 27, 2023, 9:16 p.m. UTC | #4
On Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 1:52 PM Paul Gortmaker
<paul.gortmaker@windriver.com> wrote:
>
> [This RFC is proposed for v6.4 and hence is based off linux-next.]
>
> In a similar theme to the e300/MPC83xx evaluation platform removal[1],
> this targets removal of some 13 --> 21 year old e500/MPC85xx evaluation
> boards that were produced in limited numbers and primarily made available
> to hardware/software developers to shape their own boards and BSPs.

These e500 platforms are similar to the e300 platforms that they are
still being shipped, the targeting market probably caused it to have a
longer life cycle.

>
> We start with the MPC8540-ADS[2] and MPC8560-ADS[3] -- based on the revision
> history in the user's guide[4], these near-identical platforms date back to
> at least 2002.  These boards are probably a part of the very small few that
> still exist from the ppc ---> powerpc transition.  Typical of evaluation
> boards, and as the picture[3] shows, these boards had a large footprint in
> order to break out connectors to evaluate as many features as possible.
>
> While it is up to each board OEM to provide input on the EOL of support
> for their own product, I will note that for comparison that I retired our
> SBC8560 support over a decade ago, in v3.6 (2012, in commit b048b4e17cbb)
> and nobody complained.
>
> Next, position yourself about 2007, and the MPC8548CDS (and variants)
> appeared as a vehicle to showcase the then new e500-v2 processor family,
> in a PCI-X card form factor with an additional backplane and the CPU on
> yet another daughter-card.  Not very "hobbyist" friendly.  As the saying
> goes, a picture[5] is worth 1000 words.
>
> Again, for comparison, and perhaps well overdue, I'd requested removal of
> our SBC8548 support in Jan 2021 (c12adb067844, v5.15).
>
> Still roughly in the 2007 era, the MPC8568-MDS[6] just might have been the
> 2nd last in the MDS line that was similar to the MPC83xx-MDS in general
> form factor.  However, as can be seen in the User Guide picture, the
> PCI/PCI-X card edge has been deleted.

The difference here from the e300 platforms is that MPC8540ADS,
MPC8560ADS, MPC8548CDS, MPC8568-MDS are the only reference platforms
supplied by us for these SoCs.  We don't have a separation of
evaluation platforms vs product-like platforms like we did later.
That probably means even if they don't look like "hobbyist" friendly
they are more likely to be still in use.

>
> A semi-recent change in the Kconfig descriptions, in commit d20c96deb3e2
> ("powerpc/85xx: Fix description of MPC85xx and P1/P2 boards options") made
> it clear some of the MPC8568-MDS support was shared/reused by the lower
> end of the next gen DDR3 enabled processor family -- QorIQ -- in the
> P1021/P1012 MDS[7] platforms.  This MDS variant re-added a PCI-e card edge
> but retained the MDS form factor and overall goal of enabling hardware
> designs for OEM board manufacturers.
>
> Given that, we also include the P1021/P1012 MDS in this series, so that we
> can then remove the MPC85xx_MDS Kconfig option and anything relying on it.
>
> Finally, we remove some orphaned MPC85xx kernel config fragments.
>
> Future considerations:
> ----------------------
> Similar to the e300/MPC83xx series, what is NOT touched here is any of the
> e500/MPC85xx RDS or DS platforms.
>
> DS platforms -- In the next MPC85xx platform evolution, the M or C was
> dropped from MDS/CDS designation -- as the evaluation systems dropped the
> "card+backplane" architecture and more closely resembled a typical full
> sized PC-ATX motherboard of the era, with soldered CPU mounted high; RAM
> sockets nearby, and ATX compliant PCI slots below that.
>
> However the feature rich, evaluation goal was retained in this new
> Development System (DS) line.  Contrast that with the RDS systems which
> were a smaller form factor and with only core/critical features exposed to
> connectors, and a ready to deploy to market as-is for the overall goal.
>
> With that in mind, in the future we may want to consider looking at the
> removal of the e500-v2 DS (MP8572DS[8], MPC8544DS[9], ...) platforms.
> However there is now once again overlap with the newer P1/P2 procfam DS
> systems from the same commit, and this time not under the MDS umbrella.
>
> Paul.
> --
>
> [1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20230220115913.25811-1-paul.gortmaker@windriver.com/
> [2] https://www.nxp.com/products/no-longer-manufactured/application-development-system-for-mpc8540:MPC8540ADS
> [3] https://www.nxp.com/products/no-longer-manufactured/application-development-system-for-mpc8560:MPC8560ADS
> [4] https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/reference-manual/MPC8560ADSUG.pdf
> [5] https://www.flickr.com/photos/daiharuki/905150424/in/photostream/
> [6] https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/user-guide/MPC8568EMDSPBUGAD.pdf
> [7] https://www.nxp.com/design/qoriq-developer-resources/qoriq-p1021-p1012-modular-development-system:P1021MDS
> [8] https://www.nxp.com/products/no-longer-manufactured/integrated-communications-processor-development-system:MPC8572DS
> [9] https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/fact-sheet/MPC8544DSFS.pdf
>
> Cc: Scott Wood <oss@buserror.net>
> Cc: Michael Ellerman <mpe@ellerman.id.au>
> Cc: Benjamin Herrenschmidt <benh@kernel.crashing.org>
> Cc: Paul Mackerras <paulus@samba.org>
> Cc: Li Yang <leoyang.li@nxp.com>
> Cc: Claudiu Manoil <claudiu.manoil@nxp.com>
> Cc: Pali Rohár <pali@kernel.org>
>
> ---
>
> Paul Gortmaker (4):
>   powerpc: drop MPC8540_ADS and MPC8560_ADS platform support
>   powerpc: drop MPC85xx_CDS platform support
>   powerpc: drop MPC8568_MDS / P1021_MDS platform support
>   powerpc: remove orphaned MPC85xx kernel config fragments.
>
>  arch/powerpc/boot/Makefile                    |   5 -
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8540ads.dts      | 355 ----------------
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8541cds.dts      | 375 -----------------
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds.dtsi     | 302 -------------
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds_32b.dts  |  82 ----
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds_36b.dts  |  82 ----
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8555cds.dts      | 375 -----------------
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8560ads.dts      | 388 -----------------
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568mds.dts      | 310 --------------
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568si-post.dtsi | 270 ------------
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568si-pre.dtsi  |  68 ---
>  arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/p1021mds.dts        | 319 --------------
>  arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-32bit.config        |   5 -
>  arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-hw.config           | 139 ------
>  arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-smp.config          |   2 -
>  .../configs/85xx/mpc8540_ads_defconfig        |  47 ---
>  .../configs/85xx/mpc8560_ads_defconfig        |  50 ---
>  .../configs/85xx/mpc85xx_cds_defconfig        |  52 ---
>  arch/powerpc/configs/mpc85xx_base.config      |   3 -
>  arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/Makefile          |   3 -
>  arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_ads.c     | 171 --------
>  arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_cds.c     | 397 -----------------
>  arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_mds.c     | 398 ------------------
>  23 files changed, 4198 deletions(-)
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8540ads.dts
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8541cds.dts
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds.dtsi
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds_32b.dts
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8548cds_36b.dts
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8555cds.dts
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8560ads.dts
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568mds.dts
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568si-post.dtsi
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/mpc8568si-pre.dtsi
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/boot/dts/fsl/p1021mds.dts
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-32bit.config
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-hw.config
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx-smp.config
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx/mpc8540_ads_defconfig
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx/mpc8560_ads_defconfig
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/configs/85xx/mpc85xx_cds_defconfig
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_ads.c
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_cds.c
>  delete mode 100644 arch/powerpc/platforms/85xx/mpc85xx_mds.c
>
> --
> 2.17.1
>
Michael Ellerman April 14, 2023, 2:13 a.m. UTC | #5
Li Yang <leoyang.li@nxp.com> writes:
> On Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 1:52 PM Paul Gortmaker
> <paul.gortmaker@windriver.com> wrote:
>>
>> [This RFC is proposed for v6.4 and hence is based off linux-next.]
>>
>> In a similar theme to the e300/MPC83xx evaluation platform removal[1],
>> this targets removal of some 13 --> 21 year old e500/MPC85xx evaluation
>> boards that were produced in limited numbers and primarily made available
>> to hardware/software developers to shape their own boards and BSPs.
>
> These e500 platforms are similar to the e300 platforms that they are
> still being shipped, the targeting market probably caused it to have a
> longer life cycle.
>
...
>
> The difference here from the e300 platforms is that MPC8540ADS,
> MPC8560ADS, MPC8548CDS, MPC8568-MDS are the only reference platforms
> supplied by us for these SoCs.  We don't have a separation of
> evaluation platforms vs product-like platforms like we did later.
> That probably means even if they don't look like "hobbyist" friendly
> they are more likely to be still in use.

OK. But what is the chance anyone is booting upstream kernels on them?

I assume no one at NXP is testing upstream on those boards?

cheers
Leo Li April 14, 2023, 11:29 p.m. UTC | #6
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Ellerman <mpe@ellerman.id.au>
> Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2023 9:14 PM
> To: Leo Li <leoyang.li@nxp.com>; Paul Gortmaker
> <paul.gortmaker@windriver.com>
> Cc: Scott Wood <oss@buserror.net>; Paul Mackerras <paulus@samba.org>;
> Claudiu Manoil <claudiu.manoil@nxp.com>; linuxppc-dev@lists.ozlabs.org;
> Pali Rohár <pali@kernel.org>
> Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH 0/4] Remove some e500/MPC85xx evaluation
> platforms
> 
> Li Yang <leoyang.li@nxp.com> writes:
> > On Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 1:52 PM Paul Gortmaker
> > <paul.gortmaker@windriver.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> [This RFC is proposed for v6.4 and hence is based off linux-next.]
> >>
> >> In a similar theme to the e300/MPC83xx evaluation platform
> >> removal[1], this targets removal of some 13 --> 21 year old
> >> e500/MPC85xx evaluation boards that were produced in limited numbers
> >> and primarily made available to hardware/software developers to shape
> their own boards and BSPs.
> >
> > These e500 platforms are similar to the e300 platforms that they are
> > still being shipped, the targeting market probably caused it to have a
> > longer life cycle.
> >
> ...
> >
> > The difference here from the e300 platforms is that MPC8540ADS,
> > MPC8560ADS, MPC8548CDS, MPC8568-MDS are the only reference
> platforms
> > supplied by us for these SoCs.  We don't have a separation of
> > evaluation platforms vs product-like platforms like we did later.
> > That probably means even if they don't look like "hobbyist" friendly
> > they are more likely to be still in use.
> 
> OK. But what is the chance anyone is booting upstream kernels on them?

We do still have these parts shipped, which means that there are definitely active users of these silicons.  But it is really hard to say how many of they are running latest upstream kernel.  IMO, if the nature of the application is critical it is likely they will need to update the kernel to get all the security fixes.  And the reference board will be helpful as a starting point when they update the kernel.

> 
> I assume no one at NXP is testing upstream on those boards?

To be frank they are not included in the routine tests carried out by the development team now which is not ideal to me.  But I think the support team are probably willing to help on issues with latest kernel when needed.

Regards,
Leo
Paul Gortmaker April 17, 2023, 3 p.m. UTC | #7
[RE: [RFC PATCH 0/4] Remove some e500/MPC85xx evaluation platforms] On 14/04/2023 (Fri 23:29) Leo Li wrote:

> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Michael Ellerman <mpe@ellerman.id.au>
> > Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2023 9:14 PM
> > To: Leo Li <leoyang.li@nxp.com>; Paul Gortmaker
> > <paul.gortmaker@windriver.com>
> > Cc: Scott Wood <oss@buserror.net>; Paul Mackerras <paulus@samba.org>;
> > Claudiu Manoil <claudiu.manoil@nxp.com>; linuxppc-dev@lists.ozlabs.org;
> > Pali Roh??r <pali@kernel.org>
> > Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH 0/4] Remove some e500/MPC85xx evaluation
> > platforms
> > 
> > Li Yang <leoyang.li@nxp.com> writes:
> > > On Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 1:52???PM Paul Gortmaker
> > > <paul.gortmaker@windriver.com> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> [This RFC is proposed for v6.4 and hence is based off linux-next.]
> > >>
> > >> In a similar theme to the e300/MPC83xx evaluation platform
> > >> removal[1], this targets removal of some 13 --> 21 year old
> > >> e500/MPC85xx evaluation boards that were produced in limited numbers
> > >> and primarily made available to hardware/software developers to shape
> > their own boards and BSPs.
> > >
> > > These e500 platforms are similar to the e300 platforms that they are
> > > still being shipped, the targeting market probably caused it to have a
> > > longer life cycle.
> > >
> > ...
> > >
> > > The difference here from the e300 platforms is that MPC8540ADS,
> > > MPC8560ADS, MPC8548CDS, MPC8568-MDS are the only reference
> > platforms
> > > supplied by us for these SoCs.  We don't have a separation of
> > > evaluation platforms vs product-like platforms like we did later.
> > > That probably means even if they don't look like "hobbyist" friendly
> > > they are more likely to be still in use.
> > 
> > OK. But what is the chance anyone is booting upstream kernels on them?
> 
> We do still have these parts shipped, which means that there are definitely active users of these silicons.  But it is really hard to say how many of they are running latest upstream kernel.  IMO, if the nature of the application is critical it is likely they will need to update the kernel to get all the security fixes.  And the reference board will be helpful as a starting point when they update the kernel.

I think the right thing to do here with this series is to remove the
super ancient 20+ year old MPC8540ADS and MPC8560ADS; and leave the
slightly more modern ones for another day in the future.

I don't think anyone can realistically argue against that?

Paul.
--

> 
> > 
> > I assume no one at NXP is testing upstream on those boards?
> 
> To be frank they are not included in the routine tests carried out by the development team now which is not ideal to me.  But I think the support team are probably willing to help on issues with latest kernel when needed.
> 
> Regards,
> Leo