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authorSalah Triki <salah.triki@gmail.com>2026-09-17 14:00:52 +0100
committerJonathan Cameron <jonathan.cameron@oss.qualcomm.com>2026-09-30 18:59:55 +0100
commite8dd273d199f5bbe295a8e3d8b777c5505b6b2e1 (patch)
tree767c7e109d3e6b9ec6549e99dfec9085d01318ad /Documentation/driver-api/firmware/introduction.rst
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iio: proximity: isl29501: Fix return type of isl29501_register_writegrafted
isl29501_register_write() was returning a u32 instead of an int. Since the function returns negative error codes (such as -ERANGE or return values from i2c_smbus_write_byte_data()), returning an unsigned integer type prevents callers from correctly checking for negative error conditions. Fix this by changing the function return type from u32 to int. This was found through manual code review. Fixes: 1c28799257bc ("iio: light: isl29501: Add support for the ISL29501 ToF sensor.") Signed-off-by: Salah Triki <salah.triki@gmail.com> Reviewed-by: Joshua Crofts <joshua.crofts1@gmail.com> Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org Signed-off-by: Jonathan Cameron <jonathan.cameron@oss.qualcomm.com>
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+============
+Introduction
+============
+
+The firmware API enables kernel code to request files required
+for functionality from userspace, the uses vary:
+
+* Microcode for CPU errata
+* Device driver firmware, required to be loaded onto device
+ microcontrollers
+* Device driver information data (calibration data, EEPROM overrides),
+ some of which can be completely optional.
+
+Types of firmware requests
+==========================
+
+There are two types of calls:
+
+* Synchronous
+* Asynchronous
+
+Which one you use vary depending on your requirements, the rule of thumb
+however is you should strive to use the asynchronous APIs unless you also
+are already using asynchronous initialization mechanisms which will not
+stall or delay boot. Even if loading firmware does not take a lot of time
+processing firmware might, and this can still delay boot or initialization,
+as such mechanisms such as asynchronous probe can help supplement drivers.