Re: [PATCH v2] doc: update matching list for i40e and ice driver

[Kevin Traynor <ktraynor@redhat.com>]

On 01/11/2023 11:42, Kevin Traynor wrote:
> On 11/11/2022 05:27, Qiming Yang wrote:
>> Add recommended matching list for ice PMD in DPDK 22.07 and
>> i40e PMD in DPDK 22.07 and 22.11.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Qiming Yang <qiming.yang@intel.com>
>> ---
>>    doc/guides/nics/i40e.rst | 8 ++++++++
>>    doc/guides/nics/ice.rst  | 2 ++
>>    2 files changed, 10 insertions(+)
>>
>> diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/i40e.rst b/doc/guides/nics/i40e.rst
>> index a0992dbc6c..a6c7dbd080 100644
>> --- a/doc/guides/nics/i40e.rst
>> +++ b/doc/guides/nics/i40e.rst
>> @@ -101,6 +101,10 @@ For X710/XL710/XXV710,
>>       +--------------+-----------------------+------------------+
>>       | DPDK version | Kernel driver version | Firmware version |
>>       +==============+=======================+==================+
>> +   |    22.11     |         2.20.12       |       9.01       |
>> +   +--------------+-----------------------+------------------+
>> +   |    22.07     |         2.19.3        |       8.70       |
>> +   +--------------+-----------------------+------------------+
>>       |    22.03     |         2.17.15       |       8.30       |
>>       +--------------+-----------------------+------------------+
>>       |    21.11     |         2.17.4        |       8.30       |
>> @@ -156,6 +160,10 @@ For X722,
>>       +--------------+-----------------------+------------------+
>>       | DPDK version | Kernel driver version | Firmware version |
>>       +==============+=======================+==================+
>> +   |    22.11     |         2.20.12       |       6.00       |
>> +   +--------------+-----------------------+------------------+
>> +   |    22.07     |         2.19.3        |       5.60       |
>> +   +--------------+-----------------------+------------------+
>>       |    22.03     |         2.17.15       |       5.50       |
>>       +--------------+-----------------------+------------------+
>>       |    21.11     |         2.17.4        |       5.30       |
> 
> 
> The text above the table says:
> 
> "It is highly recommended to upgrade the i40e kernel driver and firmware
> to avoid the compatibility issues with i40e PMD. Here is the suggested
> matching list which has been tested and verified. The detailed
> information can refer to chapter Tested Platforms/Tested NICs in release
> notes."
> 
> The table is only showing the out-of-tree Kernel driver versions. The
> tested section shows that in-tree Kernel drivers are tested with as well.
> 
> The issue is that this section says "Here is the suggested matching
> list" and only lists out-of-tree drivers.
> 
> It is probably just a left over from when in-tree drivers had version
> numbers but it is causing some confusion for users as it implies that
> the Intel recommendation is to use out-of-tree drivers and not in-tree.
> 
> So I suggest that another column is added here to also show the in-tree
> kernel driver tested with.
> 
> What do you think ?
> 

Any thoughts on this ?

It would be best to list both, but it might be too much when in-tree 
drivers are being tested on multiple kernels etc.

Removing the column could work, but may lose some info for older releases.

So I just sent a patch to update the text:
http://inbox.dpdk.org/dev/20231110121407.444282-1-ktraynor@redhat.com

>> diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst b/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst
>> index c7f82c261d..ce075e067c 100644
>> --- a/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst
>> +++ b/doc/guides/nics/ice.rst
>> @@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ The detailed information can refer to chapter Tested Platforms/Tested NICs in re
>>       +-----------+---------------+-----------------+-----------+--------------+-----------+
>>       |    22.03  |     1.8.3     |      1.3.28     |  1.3.35   |    1.3.8     |    3.2    |
>>       +-----------+---------------+-----------------+-----------+--------------+-----------+
>> +   |    22.07  |     1.9.11    |      1.3.30     |  1.3.37   |    1.3.10    |    4.0    |
>> +   +-----------+---------------+-----------------+-----------+--------------+-----------+
>>    
>>    Pre-Installation Configuration
>>    ------------------------------
>