[ipxe-devel] [PATCH] efi_snp: improve compliance with the EFI_SIMPLE_NETWORK_PROTOCOL spec

[Laszlo Ersek]

On 07/22/15 21:45, Michael Brown wrote:
> On 10/06/15 12:31, Gerd Hoffmann wrote:
>> The efi_snp interface dates back to 2008, when the GetStatus() interface
>> must have been seriously under-specified. The UEFI Specification (2.4)
>> specifies EFI_SIMPLE_NETWORK_PROTOCOL in detail however. In short:
>>
>> - the Transmit() interface is assumed to link (not copy) the SNP client's
>>    buffer and return at once (without blocking), taking ownership of the
>>    buffer temporarily;
>>
>> - the GetStatus() interface releases one of the completed (transmitted or
>>    internally copied) buffers back to the caller. If there are several
>>    completed buffers, it is unspecified which one is returned.
>>
>> The EFI build of the grub boot loader actually verifies the buffer
>> address
>> returned by GetStatus(), therefore in efi_snp we must at least fake the
>> queueing of client buffers. This patch doesn't track client buffers
>> together with the internally queued io_buffer structures, we consider a
>> client buffer recyclable as soon as we make a deep copy of it and queue
>> the copy internally.
> 
> Thanks.  Reworked to simplify the whole RX/TX completion reporting, and
> pushed as
> 
>   http://git.ipxe.org/ipxe.git/commitdiff/88a5f56

Thanks.

The next question is going to sound rude, but that's not my intent. It's
a constructive question.

What should we do differently next time, so that patches like these get
your attention before six months pass, and a third person has to reach
out to you? After my initial submission, Gerd reposted the (reworked)
patches once per month, approximately, without receiving any feedback,
generally speaking. What workflow do you recommend to avoid this
experience next time we'd like to submit a patch for ipxe?

Thanks
Laszlo