RE: [opensuse-kernel] Modularize PS/2 driver for Xen/EC2

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On 23.04.14 at 21:48, wrote: -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Mahoney [mailto:jeffm@suse.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 21:27 To: opensuse-kernel@opensuse.org Subject: Re: [opensuse-kernel] Modularize PS/2 driver for Xen/EC2

Wouldn't this mean that kernel-xen used as Dom0 would run into problems if the initrd failed?

Sorry, this isn't the ideal system for mailing list correspondence... Anyway, that's what I wasn't sure about. I'd imagine you can have the appropriate modules auto-loaded if you indeed still had PS/2 hardware. Not sure how that relates to early-boot scenarios as I've never had a need (nor the opportunity) to experience all this first-hand. The crux of the matter is probably whether or not PS/2 devices (attached to Xen Dom0) are still widespread enough to keep I8042 in its current state.

For kernel-xen that would be an option only if the other configs, namely -default, also did such a move. And I agree with Jeff that this would bear some risks, and hence is better avoided at this point. For -ec2, otoh, these should be disabled altogether now that this is possible (when these configs got branched off, the option wasn't user-selectable yet, and one of the weaknesses of the kernel configuration mechanism is that you don't get notified during "make oldconfig" when an already set option becomes user selectable, i.e. I simply didn't notice the opportunity to get rid of these).

How does kernel-ec2 compare to kernel-xen on the guest-side of things? The EC2 kernel is a lot sleeker, but I feel weird running it on a non-EC2 provider. A kernel-xen just for guests would be great. ;)

There's nothing EC2-specific in them, they solely exist because of the compatibility need with much older hypervisors. Since Amazon confirmed that on those old hypervisors no device pass-through would ever be done, we took the opportunity of having this separate config to (try to) strip off all drivers for "real" hardware devices. Hence for a DomU without device pass-through, this flavor should be quite fine even outside of EC2. But (I hope you understood this already) the flavor is _not_ suitable for use in Dom0 (along with "real" hardware driver support, the capability to run in the privileged Dom0 mode got disabled too, as also guaranteed to never be needed in EC2 instances). Jan -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-kernel+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-kernel+owner@opensuse.org