[openib-general] [PATCH] Allow setting of NodeDescription

[Roland Dreier]

    Fab> What happens during the handoff from the boot environment to
    Fab> the OS?  Does the HCA get disabled and then the mthca driver
    Fab> starts fresh?  Or does the mthca driver inherit a device that
    Fab> is already fully initialized.  If it gets re-initialized,
    Fab> don't the ports go down when the boot agent shuts down (and
    Fab> the SM should get a GID out of service trap), followed by the
    Fab> ports going up when mthca starts?  Or is the problem that the
    Fab> boot driver doesn't know when the handoff is, and thus can't
    Fab> disable the device?

After the kernel takes over, mthca will reset the HCA and of course
the SM will have to bring the port back up.  But at the point that
mthca is loaded, the system typically won't have a hostname set.

The kernel will need to have the HCA port active with the mthca driver
running before it can mount root and get to /etc/sysconfig/network or
wherever the hostname is set.

 - R.