i2c: Add a sysfs interface to instantiate devices

Add a sysfs interface to instantiate and delete I2C devices. This is
primarily a replacement of the force_* module parameters implemented
by some i2c drivers. These module parameters were implemented
internally by the I2C_CLIENT_INSMOD* macros, which don't scale well.

This can also be used when developing a driver on a self-soldered
board which doesn't yet have proper I2C device declaration at the
platform level, and presumably for various debugging situations.

Signed-off-by: Jean Delvare <khali@linux-fr.org>
Cc: David Brownell <dbrownell@users.sourceforge.net>
This commit is contained in:
Jean Delvare
2009-06-19 16:58:20 +02:00
parent 35fc37f818
commit 99cd8e2587
3 changed files with 168 additions and 2 deletions

View File

@@ -165,3 +165,47 @@ was done there. Two significant differences are:
Once again, method 3 should be avoided wherever possible. Explicit device
instantiation (methods 1 and 2) is much preferred for it is safer and
faster.
Method 4: Instantiate from user-space
-------------------------------------
In general, the kernel should know which I2C devices are connected and
what addresses they live at. However, in certain cases, it does not, so a
sysfs interface was added to let the user provide the information. This
interface is made of 2 attribute files which are created in every I2C bus
directory: new_device and delete_device. Both files are write only and you
must write the right parameters to them in order to properly instantiate,
respectively delete, an I2C device.
File new_device takes 2 parameters: the name of the I2C device (a string)
and the address of the I2C device (a number, typically expressed in
hexadecimal starting with 0x, but can also be expressed in decimal.)
File delete_device takes a single parameter: the address of the I2C
device. As no two devices can live at the same address on a given I2C
segment, the address is sufficient to uniquely identify the device to be
deleted.
Example:
# echo eeprom 0x50 > /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-3/new_device
While this interface should only be used when in-kernel device declaration
can't be done, there is a variety of cases where it can be helpful:
* The I2C driver usually detects devices (method 3 above) but the bus
segment your device lives on doesn't have the proper class bit set and
thus detection doesn't trigger.
* The I2C driver usually detects devices, but your device lives at an
unexpected address.
* The I2C driver usually detects devices, but your device is not detected,
either because the detection routine is too strict, or because your
device is not officially supported yet but you know it is compatible.
* You are developing a driver on a test board, where you soldered the I2C
device yourself.
This interface is a replacement for the force_* module parameters some I2C
drivers implement. Being implemented in i2c-core rather than in each
device driver individually, it is much more efficient, and also has the
advantage that you do not have to reload the driver to change a setting.
You can also instantiate the device before the driver is loaded or even
available, and you don't need to know what driver the device needs.