[Intel-xe] [PATCH V2] drm/xe: make GT sysfs init return void

[Andi Shyti]

Hi,

On Wed, Jul 05, 2023 at 06:37:46PM +0200, Nirmoy Das wrote:
> Hi Ashutosh,
> 
> On 7/5/2023 5:47 PM, Dixit, Ashutosh wrote:
> > On Wed, 05 Jul 2023 08:39:20 -0700, Nirmoy Das wrote:
> > > Hi Ashutosh,
> > > 
> > > On 7/5/2023 4:06 PM, Dixit, Ashutosh wrote:
> > > > On Wed, 05 Jul 2023 01:44:03 -0700, Tejas Upadhyay wrote:
> > > > > Currently return from xe_gt_sysfs_init() is ignored
> > > > > and also a failure in xe_gt_sysfs_init() isn't fatal
> > > > > so make it return void.
> > > > But why is the failure not fatal? I really don't understand the concept of
> > > > these non-fatal failures. Do we really want to say the device is up if
> > > > sysfs initialization has failed for some reason and people are unable to
> > > > see card freq's e.g.? This was done in i915 but do we really want to repeat
> > > > this for xe? IMO the simplest thing to do would be to fail the probe unless
> > > > ALL required/intended functionality is clearly up.
> > > 
> > > I agree with the concern but the situation is different with a graphics
> > > driver.
> > > 
> > > If we return error on probe, (if I am not wrong) a user will have no way to
> > > interact
> > > 
> > > with the system other than ssh. We should ignore non-fatal error and let
> > > the driver load
> > > 
> > > so a user can have something to work with(may be report a bug :) )
> > Hmm, good point. Agreed :)
> > 
> > This way though only display is critical and everything else non-critical?
> 
> Yes, that would be wrong, I am not saying that. We do return error during
> the probe at multiple locations,
> 
> I believe we can prioritize system usability by considering this specific
> error as non-critical. Although those sysfs files are important,

I have been one of the supporters of the non fatal failures in
sysfs for a usability reason. A big warning printed should be
more than enaough while the driver can still be up and running.

Besides, I believe that if sysfs fails, then most probably the
system has something wrong.

Andi