Dear Ben Warren,
In message 499265E1.4050903@gmail.com you wrote:
Thanks for tackling this cluster$%@#. I'm not crazy about the CONFIG_NET_MULTI_MAX, but then I'm not really sure why the ethernet addresses exist in global data on boards with CONFIG_NET_MULTI. The net
Good point.
Let's keep in mind that the global data sturcture is something which is supposed to hold data at a time before we have a writable data segment, i. e. the early boot phase before relocation to RAM.
In this case it makes no sense to hold MAC addresses in the global data, as any network activities can only be started after relocation to RAM.
it. Some common code does, but does it need to? Maybe it's needed to pass to some operating systems? This is an example of something that could use some serious refactoring, but I expect it's an onion with many, many layers. OTOH, if you're going to change the name of a variable in global data, you'll find out really fast where it's used. Maybe we can gut it completely? I'm lacking in historical perspective and my world view is pretty limited, so hopefully others (read WD) will chime in.
I think if we touch it at all, we should do it Right (TM), i. e. move this out of the global data.
Best regards,
Wolfgang Denk