[syslinux] syslimux with interrupts

[Gene Cumm]

On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 3:30 PM, Wissam Shoukair <wissams at mellanox.com> wrote:
> Hi Gene,
> Thanks for the quick response.
>
> Im using pxelinux4.07. pxelinux.0
> I didn’t find any lpxelinux.0 in this version

Correct.

> I will try lpxelinux.0 from Syslinux6.03-pre20.
> Is there lpxelinux.0 in versions earlier than Syslinux5.10?

5.10 is the first full release with lpxelinux.0

pxelinux.0 will use PXE/iPXE/gPXE API calls to obtain a file.  In your
case, this means that if iPXE needs to use interrupts to use your
driver but is not, it's an iPXE issue.

lpxelinux.0 will use UNDI calls to send/receive Ethernet frames.  It
will examine if the interrupts are reported to work and attempt to use
them.  If it feels the interrupts go dead/deaf, it will assume
interrupts are partially broken and switch to polling mode.  This
behavior is a result of numerous systems that report interrupts work,
function for about 3 seconds then never send another interrupt to
indicate anything has been received.

lpxelinux.0 before 6.03-pre20 has a known issue with iPXE (and
possibly gPXE) that manifests itself on some but not all systems.

-- 
-Gene

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text,
especially the archives of mailing lists.
Q: Why is Top-posting such a bad thing?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gene Cumm [mailto:gene.cumm at gmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, 29 September, 2014 18:40
> To: Wissam Shoukair; For discussion of Syslinux and tftp-hpa
> Subject: Re: syslimux with interrupts
>
> On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 11:07 AM, Wissam Shoukair <wissams at mellanox.com> wrote:
>> Hi Gene,
>>
>> Is there a way to compile pxelinux.0 to work with interrupts ?
>>
>> I need to check my driver (based on iPXE) which works in interrupt
>> mode (and not polling)
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks for your help.
>>
>> Wissam
>
> What version?  pxelinux.0 or lpxelinux.0?  I've never seen pxelinux.0 care about interrupts but lpxelinux.0 should use interrupts if reported as such and they don't act deaf.
>
> --
> -Gene