kernel_optimize_test/drivers/mtd/ubi/Kconfig.debug
Artem B. Bityutskiy 801c135ce7 UBI: Unsorted Block Images
UBI (Latin: "where?") manages multiple logical volumes on a single
flash device, specifically supporting NAND flash devices. UBI provides
a flexible partitioning concept which still allows for wear-levelling
across the whole flash device.

In a sense, UBI may be compared to the Logical Volume Manager
(LVM). Whereas LVM maps logical sector numbers to physical HDD sector
numbers, UBI maps logical eraseblocks to physical eraseblocks.

More information may be found at
http://www.linux-mtd.infradead.org/doc/ubi.html

Partitioning/Re-partitioning

  An UBI volume occupies a certain number of erase blocks. This is
  limited by a configured maximum volume size, which could also be
  viewed as the partition size. Each individual UBI volume's size can
  be changed independently of the other UBI volumes, provided that the
  sum of all volume sizes doesn't exceed a certain limit.

  UBI supports dynamic volumes and static volumes. Static volumes are
  read-only and their contents are protected by CRC check sums.

Bad eraseblocks handling

  UBI transparently handles bad eraseblocks. When a physical
  eraseblock becomes bad, it is substituted by a good physical
  eraseblock, and the user does not even notice this.

Scrubbing

  On a NAND flash bit flips can occur on any write operation,
  sometimes also on read. If bit flips persist on the device, at first
  they can still be corrected by ECC, but once they accumulate,
  correction will become impossible. Thus it is best to actively scrub
  the affected eraseblock, by first copying it to a free eraseblock
  and then erasing the original. The UBI layer performs this type of
  scrubbing under the covers, transparently to the UBI volume users.

Erase Counts

  UBI maintains an erase count header per eraseblock. This frees
  higher-level layers (like file systems) from doing this and allows
  for centralized erase count management instead. The erase counts are
  used by the wear-levelling algorithm in the UBI layer. The algorithm
  itself is exchangeable.

Booting from NAND

  For booting directly from NAND flash the hardware must at least be
  capable of fetching and executing a small portion of the NAND
  flash. Some NAND flash controllers have this kind of support. They
  usually limit the window to a few kilobytes in erase block 0. This
  "initial program loader" (IPL) must then contain sufficient logic to
  load and execute the next boot phase.

  Due to bad eraseblocks, which may be randomly scattered over the
  flash device, it is problematic to store the "secondary program
  loader" (SPL) statically. Also, due to bit-flips it may become
  corrupted over time. UBI allows to solve this problem gracefully by
  storing the SPL in a small static UBI volume.

UBI volumes vs. static partitions

  UBI volumes are still very similar to static MTD partitions:

    * both consist of eraseblocks (logical eraseblocks in case of UBI
      volumes, and physical eraseblocks in case of static partitions;
    * both support three basic operations - read, write, erase.

  But UBI volumes have the following advantages over traditional
  static MTD partitions:

    * there are no eraseblock wear-leveling constraints in case of UBI
      volumes, so the user should not care about this;
    * there are no bit-flips and bad eraseblocks in case of UBI volumes.

  So, UBI volumes may be considered as flash devices with relaxed
  restrictions.

Where can it be found?

  Documentation, kernel code and applications can be found in the MTD
  gits.

What are the applications for?

  The applications help to create binary flash images for two purposes: pfi
  files (partial flash images) for in-system update of UBI volumes, and plain
  binary images, with or without OOB data in case of NAND, for a manufacturing
  step. Furthermore some tools are/and will be created that allow flash content
  analysis after a system has crashed..

Who did UBI?

  The original ideas, where UBI is based on, were developed by Andreas
  Arnez, Frank Haverkamp and Thomas Gleixner. Josh W. Boyer and some others
  were involved too. The implementation of the kernel layer was done by Artem
  B. Bityutskiy. The user-space applications and tools were written by Oliver
  Lohmann with contributions from Frank Haverkamp, Andreas Arnez, and Artem.
  Joern Engel contributed a patch which modifies JFFS2 so that it can be run on
  a UBI volume. Thomas Gleixner did modifications to the NAND layer. Alexander
  Schmidt made some testing work as well as core functionality improvements.

Signed-off-by: Artem B. Bityutskiy <dedekind@linutronix.de>
Signed-off-by: Frank Haverkamp <haver@vnet.ibm.com>
2007-04-27 14:23:33 +03:00

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comment "UBI debugging options"
depends on MTD_UBI
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG
bool "UBI debugging"
depends on SYSFS
depends on MTD_UBI
select DEBUG_FS
select KALLSYMS_ALL
help
This option enables UBI debugging.
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_MSG
bool "UBI debugging messages"
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
default n
help
This option enables UBI debugging messages.
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_PARANOID
bool "Extra self-checks"
default n
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
help
This option enables extra checks in UBI code. Note this slows UBI down
significantly.
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_DISABLE_BGT
bool "Do not enable the UBI background thread"
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
default n
help
This option switches the background thread off by default. The thread
may be also be enabled/disabled via UBI sysfs.
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_USERSPACE_IO
bool "Direct user-space write/erase support"
default n
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
help
By default, users cannot directly write and erase individual
eraseblocks of dynamic volumes, and have to use update operation
instead. This option enables this capability - it is very useful for
debugging and testing.
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_EMULATE_BITFLIPS
bool "Emulate flash bit-flips"
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
default n
help
This option emulates bit-flips with probability 1/50, which in turn
causes scrubbing. Useful for debugging and stressing UBI.
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_EMULATE_WRITE_FAILURES
bool "Emulate flash write failures"
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
default n
help
This option emulates write failures with probability 1/100. Useful for
debugging and testing how UBI handlines errors.
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_EMULATE_ERASE_FAILURES
bool "Emulate flash erase failures"
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
default n
help
This option emulates erase failures with probability 1/100. Useful for
debugging and testing how UBI handlines errors.
menu "Additional UBI debugging messages"
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_MSG_BLD
bool "Additional UBI initialization and build messages"
default n
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
help
This option enables detailed UBI initialization and device build
debugging messages.
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_MSG_EBA
bool "Eraseblock association unit messages"
default n
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
help
This option enables debugging messages from the UBI eraseblock
association unit.
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_MSG_WL
bool "Wear-leveling unit messages"
default n
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
help
This option enables debugging messages from the UBI wear-leveling
unit.
config MTD_UBI_DEBUG_MSG_IO
bool "Input/output unit messages"
default n
depends on MTD_UBI_DEBUG
help
This option enables debugging messages from the UBI input/output unit.
endmenu # UBI debugging messages