[U-Boot] [PATCH] configs: Remove CONFIG_SPL_FS_EXT4 for all MX6 platforms

[Stefano Babic]

Hi Ezequiel,

On 26/05/19 00:57, Marek Vasut wrote:
> On 5/26/19 12:45 AM, Ezequiel Garcia wrote:
>> On Sun, 2019-05-26 at 00:24 +0200, Marek Vasut wrote:
>>> On 5/25/19 11:47 PM, Ezequiel Garcia wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 2019-05-25 at 22:15 +0200, Marek Vasut wrote:
>>>>> On 5/25/19 6:49 PM, Ezequiel Garcia wrote:
>>>>>> i.MX6 platforms boot U-Boot second-stage from unformatted space,
>>>>>> and should not need Ext filesystem support on SPL.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The commit was generated with:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> git grep -l MX6 -- configs/ | xargs grep -l SPL_FS_EXT4 | xargs sed -i -e '/CONFIG_SPL_FS_EXT4=y/d'
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This change has a dramatic impact on SPL size:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ./scripts/bloat-o-meter old new
>>>>>> add/remove: 0/59 grow/shrink: 0/3 up/down: 0/-8674 (-8674)
>>>>>> [..]
>>>>>> Total: Before=38320, After=29646, chg -22.64%
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Cc: Otavio Salvador <otavio at ossystems.com.br>
>>>>>> Cc: Fabio Estevam <fabio.estevam at nxp.com>
>>>>>> Cc: Peng Fan <peng.fan at nxp.com>
>>>>>> Cc: Marek Vasut <marex at denx.de>
>>>>>> Cc: Stefano Babic <sbabic at denx.de>
>>>>>> Cc: Stefan Roese <sr at denx.de>
>>>>>> Cc: "Eric Bénard" <eric at eukrea.com>
>>>>>> Cc: Breno Lima <breno.lima at nxp.com>
>>>>>> Cc: Francesco Montefoschi <francesco.montefoschi at udoo.org>
>>>>>> Signed-off-by: Ezequiel Garcia <ezequiel at collabora.com>
>>>>>> ---
>>>>>> Tested on Wandboard only. Maintainers, please ACK or NAK!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  configs/cgtqmx6eval_defconfig       | 1 -
>>>>>>  configs/mx6cuboxi_defconfig         | 1 -
>>>>>>  configs/mx6sabreauto_defconfig      | 1 -
>>>>>>  configs/mx6sabresd_defconfig        | 1 -
>>>>>>  configs/mx6slevk_spl_defconfig      | 1 -
>>>>>>  configs/mx6sxsabresd_spl_defconfig  | 1 -
>>>>>>  configs/mx6ul_14x14_evk_defconfig   | 1 -
>>>>>>  configs/mx6ul_9x9_evk_defconfig     | 1 -
>>>>>>  configs/novena_defconfig            | 1 -
>>>>>
>>>>> NAK, I boot my Novena from ext4 and this just broke it.
>>>>>
>>>>> And also, NAK, this removes functionality from SPL which worked fine before.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I'll drop from Novena, but I think the patch still makes some sense,
>>>> why do you want Ext4 on SPL?
>>>
>>> What other filesystem is available in SPL and doesn't have patent problems ?
>>>
>>
>> Sorry for not being clear. I am asking why turn on a feature that is so heavy,
>> on a system that won't need it (such as Sabre* boards, Wandboard and similar)?
> 
> Two reasons:
> 1) It was enabled, disabling it means removing functionality for no good
>    reason (oops, bloat, is not a good reason), and that is not desired.
> 2) Booting from block device implies booting from a filesystem,
>    otherwise you might overwrite various things on the block device when
>    updating the file (u-boot image).
> 

They *could* be good reasons, but it depends on the use case. In case of
Novena as Marek stated, it boots from filesystem and dropping this
feature breaks definetly the board.

My position is that each board maintainer can take the decision what is
necessary for the board he maintained. I think this should be done per
each board, so just send single patches (not a compund as this one) just
for the boards you want to drop ext4 (I guess just sabre and Wandboard).
If the board maintainers agree (Fabio and Otavio), patches can be merged.

Thanks,
Stefano

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