[tbot] [DENX] tbot: board hangs if no autoload

Wolfgang Denk wd at denx.de
Thu Nov 15 10:57:21 UTC 2018


Dear Stefano,

In message <4e6fafee-0a11-dbdc-5ebd-15af7529f8d8 at denx.de> you wrote:
> 
> > U-Boot
> > 
> > - get sources
> > - may apply patches to it
> >   list of patches in a directory ?
> >   get a list of patches from patchwork todo list?
> > 
> > - install u-boot on the board
> > - check if really the new version of u-boot boots
> 
> I admit that I am not very interested how to build and to push software
> on the board. There are a lot of different paths, and this is not what
> the customers ask. They have their own buildserver (Yocto / buildroot /

However, this is exactly what you do when you prepare a pull-request
for Tom in your function as U-Boot custodian...

Saving time there is useful, too, isn't it?

> 	- does network work ?
> 	- does storage work ?
> 	- do other u-boot peripherals work ?
> 
> Such cases - they are unaware of which board is running, and we can at

Thisis not really true, unless you define a number of parameters
(address ranges for storing images etc. in RAM, for example)
for all boards.  In the old DUTS setup we did this, but I'm not sure
if it has been a useful approach.

> > - convert all DUTS testcases
> >   http://git.denx.de/?p=duts.git
> 
> I do not thing this is a great idea. This "duts" is obsolete and I think
> we have now a more generic and better concept with tbot. I think we

DUTS is indeed obsolete, but the test cases have always been useful,
and they still are.  One issue with U-Boot is the lack of up-to-date
documentation, and the major reason for that is the lack of a test
suite to generate the needed log files.

@Harald: I forgot to ask this during your presentation: can tbot
generate log files that contain just the commands sent to the target
and the replies received?

I understand you play some tricks with fancy prompts etc., but can
we get something like this?

> > Linux:
> > 
> > - get sources
> > - may apply patches to it
> > - install linux on the board
> > - check if booted version is the expected one
> > - create a register dump file
> >   write register content into a register dump file
> > - do register checks
> 
> See above. I think this is useful during a porting, but it is less
> useful for a customer who wants to test functionalities. I would like to
> have first a catalog of testcases with functionalities, like:

Stefano, I think you miss one key point:  tbot  is _not_ only for
regression testing for a customer.  It is (and actually most of all)
a tool that is supposed to free _you_ in your daily work from
routine tasks.  Your brain is way to precious to be wasted on such
non-creative routine jobs.  Let tbot do these, and put your brain to
better use!


Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,      Managing Director: Wolfgang Denk
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
"More software projects have gone awry for lack of calendar time than
for all other causes combined."
                         - Fred Brooks, Jr., _The Mythical Man Month_


More information about the tbot mailing list