[gPXE-devel] [PATCH] Re-enable management mode checks on e1000e

[Michael Brown]

On Friday 28 May 2010 01:20:54 Geoff Lywood wrote:
> 1. The driver avoids powering off the PHY if management mode is enabled.
>  Presumably, powering off the PHY has ill effects on the other (IAMT)
>  driver using the PHY. I'm not sure if we ever call into this path, though,
>  so we may be able to remove it.
> 
> 2. e1000e_copper_link_setup_gg82563_80003es2lan checks if management mode
>  is enabled before writing some PHY registers. I think that this check
>  might really be needed, because it implies that the PHY registers could
>  have different values if they were set up by the IAMT side of the
>  interface, and we don't want to clobber what is there.

Does "management mode" on e1000 mean that the NIC is in use for sideband 
management (IPMI, iLO, etc.)?

If so, then I agree that we really do need to be making this check (or, 
alternatively and arguably preferably, just never doing things like powering 
off the PHY anyway).

Michael