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Date:   Tue, 28 Jan 2020 23:50:47 +0000
From:   "brian m. carlson" <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>
To:     Arend Van Spriel <arend.vanspriel@broadcom.com>
Cc:     linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org,
        brcm80211-dev-list.pdl@broadcom.com,
        brcm80211-dev-list@cypress.com,
        Franky Lin <franky.lin@broadcom.com>,
        Hante Meuleman <hante.meuleman@broadcom.com>,
        Chi-Hsien Lin <chi-hsien.lin@cypress.com>,
        Wright Feng <wright.feng@cypress.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] brcmfmac: add the BRCM 4364 found in MacBook Pro 15,2
Message-ID: <20200128235047.GJ4113372@camp.crustytoothpaste.net>
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On 2020-01-28 at 09:47:37, Arend Van Spriel wrote:
> On 1/27/2020 12:00 AM, brian m. carlson wrote:
> > There is also precedent for users acquiring firmware themselves via the
> > b43 and b43legacy drivers, where users have to use a script to extract
> > the firmware from other drivers.
> >=20
> > I wish I had a better answer to this, but I don't work for Broadcom or
> > anyone associated with it and am just trying to get the Mac I was given
> > for $DAYJOB to work with Linux.  Perhaps since you do you'd be willing
> > to ask them to release the firmware.
> >=20
> > The alternative is that the chip doesn't work at all (and can't be added
> > via the new_id sysfs entry because of the rambase setting) and users
> > have to compile a custom patched kernel to make their wireless card work
> > at all.  I'd really prefer to avoid that if possible, since it's
> > a strictly worse experience in every way.
>=20
> How about putting this device under some Kconfig flag. If distro kernel
> start probing the device and fail, most users will probably turn to their
> distro for help. Having a Kconfig with a good description could avoid tha=
t.
> It would mean an extra step of building the driver though.

I can certainly do that.  I don't think it provides a lot of value,
since the only benefit I see is that it avoids warning about missing
firmware that the distro can't ship.  A typical Debian system currently
warns about missing firmware for numerous other drivers (e.g., i915) at
the moment without ill consequences.

But if you'd prefer it that way, I can provide a v3 that does that.
--=20
brian m. carlson: Houston, Texas, US
OpenPGP: https://keybase.io/bk2204

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