From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-path: Received: from metis.ext.pengutronix.de ([2001:67c:670:201:290:27ff:fe1d:cc33]) by bombadil.infradead.org with esmtps (Exim 4.90_1 #2 (Red Hat Linux)) id 1gvd1P-0001Fd-1R for barebox@lists.infradead.org; Mon, 18 Feb 2019 07:07:24 +0000 Received: from soja.hi.pengutronix.de ([2001:67c:670:100:3ad5:47ff:feaf:13da]) by metis.ext.pengutronix.de with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_128_GCM_SHA256:128) (Exim 4.89) (envelope-from ) id 1gvd1M-000528-2z for barebox@lists.infradead.org; Mon, 18 Feb 2019 08:07:20 +0100 References: <20190218070529.23903-1-o.rempel@pengutronix.de> From: Oleksij Rempel Message-ID: <731dcb78-46be-888c-e58b-13745df8613a@pengutronix.de> Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 08:07:19 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <20190218070529.23903-1-o.rempel@pengutronix.de> Content-Language: en-US List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; Format="flowed" Sender: "barebox" Errors-To: barebox-bounces+u.kleine-koenig=pengutronix.de@lists.infradead.org Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] Documentation: add watchdog documentation To: "barebox@lists.infradead.org" On 18.02.19 08:05, Oleksij Rempel wrote: > Signed-off-by: Oleksij Rempel > --- > Documentation/user/user-manual.rst | 1 + > Documentation/user/watchdog.rst | 116 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > 2 files changed, 117 insertions(+) > create mode 100644 Documentation/user/watchdog.rst > > diff --git a/Documentation/user/user-manual.rst b/Documentation/user/user-manual.rst > index 516b760b1b..d5526de285 100644 > --- a/Documentation/user/user-manual.rst > +++ b/Documentation/user/user-manual.rst > @@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ Contents: > system-reset > state > random > + watchdog > > * :ref:`search` > * :ref:`genindex` > diff --git a/Documentation/user/watchdog.rst b/Documentation/user/watchdog.rst > new file mode 100644 > index 0000000000..2c453d9fa5 > --- /dev/null > +++ b/Documentation/user/watchdog.rst > @@ -0,0 +1,116 @@ > +Watchdog Support > +================ > + > +Warnings and Design Consideration > +--------------------------------- > + > +A watchdog is the last line of defense on misbehaving systems. Thus, proper > +hardware and watchdog design considerations should be made to be able to reduce > +the impact of failing systems in the field. In the best case, the bootloader > +should not touch it at all. No watchdog feeding should be done until > +application-critical software (or a userspace service manager such as > +'systemd') was started. > + > +In case the bootloader is responsible for watchdog activation, the system can > +be considered as failed by design. The following threats can affect the system > +which are mostly addressable by properly designed watchdog and watchdog > +strategy: > + > +- software-based miss-configurations or bugs prevent the system from starting. gr... forgot to fix miss... > +- glitches caused by under-voltage, inappropriate power-on sequence or noisy > + power supply. > +- physical damages caused by humidity, vibration or temperature. > +- temperature-based misbehavior of the system, e.g. clock is not running or > + running with wrong frequency. > +- chemical reactions, e.g. some clock crystals will stop to work in contact > + with Helium, see for example: > + https://ifixit.org/blog/11986/iphones-are-allergic-to-helium/ > +- failed storage prevents booting. NAND, SD, SSD, HDD, SPI-flash all of this > + some day stop to work because their read/write cycles are exceeded. > + > +In all these cases, the bootloader won't be able to start and a properly > +designed watchdog may take some action. For example: recover the system by > +resetting it, or power it off to reduce the damage. > + > +Barebox Watchdog Functionality > +------------------------------ > + > +Nevertheless, in some cases we are not able to influence the hardware design > +anymore or while developing one needs to be able to feed the watchdog to > +disable it from within the bootloader. For these scenarios barebox provides the > +watchdog framework with the following functionality and at least > +``CONFIG_WATCHDOG`` should be enabled: > + > +Polling > +~~~~~~~ > + > +Watchdog polling/feeding allows to feed the watchdog and keep it running on one > +side and to not reset the system on the other side. It is needed on hardware > +with short-time watchdogs. For example the Atheros ar9331 watchdog has a > +maximal timeout of 7 seconds, so it may reset even on netboot. > +Or it can be used on systems where the watchdog is already running and can't be > +disabled, an example for that is the watchdog of the i.MX2 series. > +This functionally can be seen as a threat, since in error cases barebox will > +continue to feed the watchdog even if that is not desired. So, depending on > +your needs ``CONFIG_WATCHDOG_POLLER`` can be enabled or disabled at compile > +time. Even if barebox was built with watchdog polling support, it is not > +enabled by default. To start polling from command line run: > + > +.. code-block:: console > + > + wdog0.autoping=1 > + > +The poller interval is not configurable, but fixed at 500ms and the watchdog > +timeout is configured by default to the maximum of the supported values by > +hardware. To change the timeout used by the poller, run: > + > +.. code-block:: console > + > + wdog0.timeout_cur=7 > + > +To read the current watchdog's configuration, run: > + > +.. code-block:: console > + > + devinfo wdog0 > + > +The output may look as follows where ``timeout_cur`` and ``timeout_max`` are > +measured in seconds: > + > +.. code-block:: console > + > + barebox@DPTechnics DPT-Module:/ devinfo wdog0 > + Parameters: > + autoping: 1 (type: bool) > + timeout_cur: 7 (type: uint32) > + timeout_max: 10 (type: uint32) > + > +Use barebox' environment to persist these changes between reboots: > + > +.. code-block:: console > + > + nv dev.wdog0.autoping=1 > + nv dev.wdog0.timeout_cur=7 > + > +Boot Watchdog Timeout > +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > + > +With this functionality barebox may start a watchdog or update the timeout of > +an already-running one, just before kicking the boot image. It can be > +configured temporarily via > + > +.. code-block:: console > + > + global boot.watchdog_timeout=10 > + > +or persistently by > + > +.. code-block:: console > + > + nv boot.watchdog_timeout=10 > + > +where the used value again is measured in seconds. > + > +On a system with multiple watchdogs, only the first one (wdog0) is affected by > +the ``boot.watchdog_timeout`` parameter. > + > Kind regards, Oleksij Rempel -- Pengutronix e.K. | | Industrial Linux Solutions | http://www.pengutronix.de/ | Peiner Str. 6-8, 31137 Hildesheim, Germany | Phone: +49-5121-206917-0 | Amtsgericht Hildesheim, HRA 2686 | Fax: +49-5121-206917-5555 | _______________________________________________ barebox mailing list barebox@lists.infradead.org http://lists.infradead.org/mailman/listinfo/barebox