Re: [PATCH v4 0/3] pps-gpio: restore pin mux on unbind and shutdown

[Rodolfo Giometti]

On Sat, Sep 19, 2026 at 05:11:54PM +0000, Eliav Farber wrote:
> Open question for the maintainers (patch 3): a probe that fails before
> pps_gpio_get_pins() has run -- devm_kzalloc() or pps_gpio_setup() -- returns
> without going through err_release_pins, so the pins are left in the
> core-applied "default" state rather than "inactive". I did not change this
> in v4 as I would like your guidance on the preferred approach; the trade-offs
> are laid out at the end of patch 3's changelog. In short:
>
>   A. Move pps_gpio_get_pins() to the top of probe and route the
>      pps_gpio_setup() failure through err_release_pins too, so every path
>      the driver can act on restores "inactive". (The devm_kzalloc() failure
>      is inherently before the driver holds any pinctrl handle, so it cannot
>      be covered by the driver in any option.)
>   B. Keep v4 as-is and treat "inactive" as a successful-ownership concern:
>      a probe that never looked up the state never took the pins, so leaving
>      the core-applied "default" (long-standing behaviour) is acceptable.
>   C. As A, but keep the release helper's existing NULL guard so it is robust
>      regardless of ordering (belt and braces).
>
> I lean towards B (the restore is meaningful only once the driver has taken
> ownership), but I am happy to implement A/C if you prefer uniform failure
> paths.

I would choose option A, keeping the NULL check in the release helper;
I believe this corresponds to your option C. In fact, to me, it
represents the symmetrical counterpart to what the core did on the
driver's behalf.

One thing I would verify on your board before proceeding is this: with
option A, an -EPROBE_DEFER error returned by pps_gpio_setup() would
result in the "inactive" state being selected, and the core would
re-apply "default" on the next attempt. I assume this mux switching is
harmless, but the hardware is available to you, not me.

I wouldn't worry too much about the devm_kzalloc() case.

I also have a couple of observations regarding patches 1/3 and 3/3; I
will send them directly in response to the patches themselves.

Ciao,

Rodolfo