1 files changed, 100 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/driver-model/platform.txt b/Documentation/driver-model/platform.txt
index 19c4a6e1367..07795ec51cd 100644
--- a/Documentation/driver-model/platform.txt
+++ b/Documentation/driver-model/platform.txt
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ struct platform_driver {
 	struct device_driver driver;
 };
 
-Note that probe() should general verify that the specified device hardware
+Note that probe() should in general verify that the specified device hardware
 actually exists; sometimes platform setup code can't be sure.  The probing
 can use device resources, including clocks, and device platform_data.
 
@@ -96,6 +96,46 @@ System setup also associates those clocks with the device, so that that
 calls to clk_get(&pdev->dev, clock_name) return them as needed.
 
 
+Legacy Drivers:  Device Probing
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Some drivers are not fully converted to the driver model, because they take
+on a non-driver role:  the driver registers its platform device, rather than
+leaving that for system infrastructure.  Such drivers can't be hotplugged
+or coldplugged, since those mechanisms require device creation to be in a
+different system component than the driver.
+
+The only "good" reason for this is to handle older system designs which, like
+original IBM PCs, rely on error-prone "probe-the-hardware" models for hardware
+configuration.  Newer systems have largely abandoned that model, in favor of
+bus-level support for dynamic configuration (PCI, USB), or device tables
+provided by the boot firmware (e.g. PNPACPI on x86).  There are too many
+conflicting options about what might be where, and even educated guesses by
+an operating system will be wrong often enough to make trouble.
+
+This style of driver is discouraged.  If you're updating such a driver,
+please try to move the device enumeration to a more appropriate location,
+outside the driver.  This will usually be cleanup, since such drivers
+tend to already have "normal" modes, such as ones using device nodes that
+were created by PNP or by platform device setup.
+
+None the less, there are some APIs to support such legacy drivers.  Avoid
+using these calls except with such hotplug-deficient drivers.
+
+	struct platform_device *platform_device_alloc(
+			const char *name, int id);
+
+You can use platform_device_alloc() to dynamically allocate a device, which
+you will then initialize with resources and platform_device_register().
+A better solution is usually:
+
+	struct platform_device *platform_device_register_simple(
+			const char *name, int id,
+			struct resource *res, unsigned int nres);
+
+You can use platform_device_register_simple() as a one-step call to allocate
+and register a device.
+
+
 Device Naming and Driver Binding
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 The platform_device.dev.bus_id is the canonical name for the devices.
@@ -129,3 +169,62 @@ three different ways to find such a match:
       be probed later if another device registers.  (Which is OK, since
       this interface is only for use with non-hotpluggable devices.)
 
+
+Early Platform Devices and Drivers
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+The early platform interfaces provide platform data to platform device
+drivers early on during the system boot. The code is built on top of the
+early_param() command line parsing and can be executed very early on.
+
+Example: "earlyprintk" class early serial console in 6 steps
+
+1. Registering early platform device data
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+The architecture code registers platform device data using the function
+early_platform_add_devices(). In the case of early serial console this
+should be hardware configuration for the serial port. Devices registered
+at this point will later on be matched against early platform drivers.
+
+2. Parsing kernel command line
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+The architecture code calls parse_early_param() to parse the kernel
+command line. This will execute all matching early_param() callbacks.
+User specified early platform devices will be registered at this point.
+For the early serial console case the user can specify port on the
+kernel command line as "earlyprintk=serial.0" where "earlyprintk" is
+the class string, "serial" is the name of the platform driver and
+0 is the platform device id. If the id is -1 then the dot and the
+id can be omitted.
+
+3. Installing early platform drivers belonging to a certain class
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+The architecture code may optionally force registration of all early
+platform drivers belonging to a certain class using the function
+early_platform_driver_register_all(). User specified devices from
+step 2 have priority over these. This step is omitted by the serial
+driver example since the early serial driver code should be disabled
+unless the user has specified port on the kernel command line.
+
+4. Early platform driver registration
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Compiled-in platform drivers making use of early_platform_init() are
+automatically registered during step 2 or 3. The serial driver example
+should use early_platform_init("earlyprintk", &platform_driver).
+
+5. Probing of early platform drivers belonging to a certain class
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+The architecture code calls early_platform_driver_probe() to match
+registered early platform devices associated with a certain class with
+registered early platform drivers. Matched devices will get probed().
+This step can be executed at any point during the early boot. As soon
+as possible may be good for the serial port case.
+
+6. Inside the early platform driver probe()
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+The driver code needs to take special care during early boot, especially
+when it comes to memory allocation and interrupt registration. The code
+in the probe() function can use is_early_platform_device() to check if
+it is called at early platform device or at the regular platform device
+time. The early serial driver performs register_console() at this point.
+
+For further information, see <linux/platform_device.h>.