In message 200401091148.40211.josef.baumgartner@telex.de you wrote:
I'd like to have the possibility to configure u-boot for watchdog support but disable the watchdog if there's no autoboot and I want to use the booter. I looked at the code but I found no such feature at the moment, am I right?
This is correct, because IMHO it makes no sense. With any decent watchdog there is no way by software to disable it once you started it. I know that some devices allw that, but there is no general solution. For example, on the MPC8xx family of processors the relevant control register is write-once, i. e. once written you cannot overwrite the value so there is no way to stop a running watchdog. On some external watchdogs the behaviour is the same: once started, there is no way to stop them by software (only by reset).
All solutions assume that an enabled watchdog could be disabled again which is not true for all watchdog implementations. I plan to use it on the Motorola MCF5272, there it is no problem.
What is your opinion and experience to this topic?
You can do it, if you like. I don't consider such a feature useful. A watchdog, if present, is made for running, not for being stopped ;-)
Best regards,
Wolfgang Denk