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| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/i2c/fault-codes | 124 |
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diff --git a/Documentation/i2c/fault-codes b/Documentation/i2c/fault-codes new file mode 100644 index 000000000..47c25abb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/i2c/fault-codes @@ -0,0 +1,124 @@ +This is a summary of the most important conventions for use of fault +codes in the I2C/SMBus stack. + + +A "Fault" is not always an "Error" +---------------------------------- +Not all fault reports imply errors; "page faults" should be a familiar +example. Software often retries idempotent operations after transient +faults. There may be fancier recovery schemes that are appropriate in +some cases, such as re-initializing (and maybe resetting). After such +recovery, triggered by a fault report, there is no error. + +In a similar way, sometimes a "fault" code just reports one defined +result for an operation ... it doesn't indicate that anything is wrong +at all, just that the outcome wasn't on the "golden path". + +In short, your I2C driver code may need to know these codes in order +to respond correctly. Other code may need to rely on YOUR code reporting +the right fault code, so that it can (in turn) behave correctly. + + +I2C and SMBus fault codes +------------------------- +These are returned as negative numbers from most calls, with zero or +some positive number indicating a non-fault return. The specific +numbers associated with these symbols differ between architectures, +though most Linux systems use <asm-generic/errno*.h> numbering. + +Note that the descriptions here are not exhaustive. There are other +codes that may be returned, and other cases where these codes should +be returned. However, drivers should not return other codes for these +cases (unless the hardware doesn't provide unique fault reports). + +Also, codes returned by adapter probe methods follow rules which are +specific to their host bus (such as PCI, or the platform bus). + + +EAGAIN + Returned by I2C adapters when they lose arbitration in master + transmit mode: some other master was transmitting different + data at the same time. + + Also returned when trying to invoke an I2C operation in an + atomic context, when some task is already using that I2C bus + to execute some other operation. + +EBADMSG + Returned by SMBus logic when an invalid Packet Error Code byte + is received. This code is a CRC covering all bytes in the + transaction, and is sent before the terminating STOP. This + fault is only reported on read transactions; the SMBus slave + may have a way to report PEC mismatches on writes from the + host. Note that even if PECs are in use, you should not rely + on these as the only way to detect incorrect data transfers. + +EBUSY + Returned by SMBus adapters when the bus was busy for longer + than allowed. This usually indicates some device (maybe the + SMBus adapter) needs some fault recovery (such as resetting), + or that the reset was attempted but failed. + +EINVAL + This rather vague error means an invalid parameter has been + detected before any I/O operation was started. Use a more + specific fault code when you can. + +EIO + This rather vague error means something went wrong when + performing an I/O operation. Use a more specific fault + code when you can. + +ENODEV + Returned by driver probe() methods. This is a bit more + specific than ENXIO, implying the problem isn't with the + address, but with the device found there. Driver probes + may verify the device returns *correct* responses, and + return this as appropriate. (The driver core will warn + about probe faults other than ENXIO and ENODEV.) + +ENOMEM + Returned by any component that can't allocate memory when + it needs to do so. + +ENXIO + Returned by I2C adapters to indicate that the address phase + of a transfer didn't get an ACK. While it might just mean + an I2C device was temporarily not responding, usually it + means there's nothing listening at that address. + + Returned by driver probe() methods to indicate that they + found no device to bind to. (ENODEV may also be used.) + +EOPNOTSUPP + Returned by an adapter when asked to perform an operation + that it doesn't, or can't, support. + + For example, this would be returned when an adapter that + doesn't support SMBus block transfers is asked to execute + one. In that case, the driver making that request should + have verified that functionality was supported before it + made that block transfer request. + + Similarly, if an I2C adapter can't execute all legal I2C + messages, it should return this when asked to perform a + transaction it can't. (These limitations can't be seen in + the adapter's functionality mask, since the assumption is + that if an adapter supports I2C it supports all of I2C.) + +EPROTO + Returned when slave does not conform to the relevant I2C + or SMBus (or chip-specific) protocol specifications. One + case is when the length of an SMBus block data response + (from the SMBus slave) is outside the range 1-32 bytes. + +ETIMEDOUT + This is returned by drivers when an operation took too much + time, and was aborted before it completed. + + SMBus adapters may return it when an operation took more + time than allowed by the SMBus specification; for example, + when a slave stretches clocks too far. I2C has no such + timeouts, but it's normal for I2C adapters to impose some + arbitrary limits (much longer than SMBus!) too. + |