Contributing to linux kernel

[Philipp Hortmann]

On 10/3/24 10:21, ömer bulut wrote:
> Hi Philip,
> 
> Thanks for your quick reply. I just love it how this community works.
> Actually i look to kernelnewbie web page previously. I also watch gregs
> youtube videos ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLBrBBImJt4&t=414s )  and
> i read some books that recommended on stackoverflow or kernel web site - i
> just keep reading those books. I want to going to look into some drivers to
> find out little bugs.
> Are you maintainers for any drivers that i can look into it? Maybe it could
> be good start point.
> 
> Best Regards...
> Ömer
> 
> Philipp Hortmann <philipp.g.hortmann at gmail.com>, 2 Eki 2024 Çar, 21:06
> tarihinde şunu yazdı:
> 
>> On 10/2/24 16:57, ömer bulut wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I have spent almost 10 years for writing device drivers so i want to
>>> contribute to linux kernel. There are some pmic drivers from Texas
>>> Instruments like bq24190 etc in the linux source tree. Would  writing
>>> driver for bq25120a be helpful or should i begin with bit little like
>>> fixing some coverity bugs?
>>>
>>> Best Regards...
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Kernelnewbies mailing list
>>> Kernelnewbies at kernelnewbies.org
>>> https://lists.kernelnewbies.org/mailman/listinfo/kernelnewbies
>>
>> Hi Ömer,
>>
>> great that you have so much experience. I recommend you start with the
>> homepage:
>>
>> https://kernelnewbies.org/
>> Go complete our tutorial for creating your first kernel patch...
>>
>> I recommend to start with really simple patches with only some changes.
>> Nobody is mad when you just change one place on your first patch. Then
>> you need to be patient. As the response can take some time. You can use
>> this time to prepare for the next but typically it is not wise to send
>> in multiple patches with the same issue. So start simple and evolve...
>>
>> In case of questions feel free to write again.
>>
>> Thanks for your support.
>>
>> Bye Philipp
>>
>>
>>
> 
Hi Ömer,

please do not use top posting for kernel mailing lists.

I also recommend to read in the subsystem mailing list:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-staging/

I am not Maintainer. I am trying to support the maintainer Greg 
Kroah-Hartman.

As I managed to buy hardware for:
rtl8192e
rtl8712
rtl8723bs
vt6656
I am typically responding to those Patches.

We had a two week merge window until last Sunday. All patches in the Que 
have not been added by the maintainer. So sending in patches can 
conflict with other patches send in earlier. You have three choices... 
wait until the patches get in or apply the patches relevant to the 
driver you want to work on or change only files for which no patches are 
relevant.

As a first starting point I recommend to remove some unused macros in 
rtl8192e.

Please check if this macros are used and remove all unused ones.

#define rPMAC_Reset        0x100
#define rPMAC_TxStart        0x104
#define rPMAC_TxLegacySIG    0x108
#define rPMAC_TxHTSIG1        0x10c
#define rPMAC_TxHTSIG2        0x110
#define rPMAC_PHYDebug        0x114
#define rPMAC_TxPacketNum    0x118
#define rPMAC_TxIdle        0x11c
#define rPMAC_TxMACHeader0    0x120
#define rPMAC_TxMACHeader1    0x124
#define rPMAC_TxMACHeader2    0x128
#define rPMAC_TxMACHeader3    0x12c
#define rPMAC_TxMACHeader4    0x130
#define rPMAC_TxMACHeader5    0x134
#define rPMAC_TxDataType    0x138
#define rPMAC_TxRandomSeed    0x13c
#define rPMAC_CCKPLCPPreamble    0x140
#define rPMAC_CCKPLCPHeader    0x144
#define rPMAC_CCKCRC16        0x148
#define rPMAC_OFDMRxCRC32OK    0x170
#define rPMAC_OFDMRxCRC32Er    0x174
#define rPMAC_OFDMRxParityEr    0x178
#define rPMAC_OFDMRxCRC8Er    0x17c
#define rPMAC_CCKCRxRC16Er    0x180
#define rPMAC_CCKCRxRC32Er    0x184
#define rPMAC_CCKCRxRC32OK    0x188
#define rPMAC_TxStatus        0x18c

You can take the description from old patches in git.

Make your Subject line unique by adding the first removed macro.

Thanks for your support.

Bye Philipp