[U-Boot] Using kernelCI infrastructure for firmware testing

[Patrick Rudolph]

Hi folks,
this is an attempt to improve firmware testing by using the
infrastructure and knowledge of the kernelci community. If you think
this is not the right place, please point me in the right direction.

I'm a coreboot[1] developer trying to make sure that the master
branch[2] doesn't regress. Currently there's no public firmware
testing, only internal validation suites used by some companies that
lack direct and automated feedback before a commit is actually merged.
As this isn't a coreboot only topic, but applies to all open source
"bios vendors", I added the u-boot project in CC as well.

For me firmware testing looks pretty similar to kernel testing:
* flash firmware to test
* boot a known good linux kernel
* run tests in userspace and verify hardware/software works as expected

On the hardware side we have boards in our lab that allow remote power
cycling and firmware flashing. It is attached to self hosted stock
LAVA2018. But as we are firmware engineers, we don't want to deal with
the administration of servers.

Here are a few questions for you:
* Would it make sense to also cover open source firmware tests on kernelci?
* Do you build the linux images yourself?
* Would you accept firmware images generated by a third party?
* Can anybody get an account for the LAVA server to run firmware test?
* What communication channels do you recommend?
* Will there be meetings or conferences to get in contact with the
community to talk about this?

[1]: https://coreboot.org/
[2]: https://review.coreboot.org/

Kind Regards,
Patrick Rudolph

9elements GmbH, Kortumstraße 19-21, 44787 Bochum, Germany
Email:  patrick.rudolph at 9elements.com
Phone:  +49 234 / 68 94 188

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