Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2022 04:04:05 -0700 From: Scott Long <scottl@samsco.org> To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Intel + Thunderbolt Driver Message-ID: <00D5154E-7656-42A6-A899-DE77067EDF70@samsco.org> In-Reply-To: <DM6PR02MB522854F196C25EF0ECBA32DAFA549@DM6PR02MB5228.namprd02.prod.outlook.com> References: <DM6PR02MB522854F196C25EF0ECBA32DAFA549@DM6PR02MB5228.namprd02.prod.outlook.com>
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> On Jan 14, 2022, at 12:39 PM, Gerard E. Seibert = <gerard_seibert@outlook.com> wrote: >=20 > I was just wondering if anyone had heard or knows when FreeBSD will be > able to support Intel's "Thunderbolt" technology? The lack of a driver > that works for FreeBSD has made it impossible for me to update my > system beyond version 11.4. >=20 > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface) >=20 > --=20 > Jerry >=20 Hi, I have a driver in progress. It works at a basic level with my = AlpineRidge and Icelake controllers. I haven=E2=80=99t developed against TitanRidge, = MapleRidge, or AlderLake yet, mostly due to not having hardware. However, I=E2=80=99m = curious about your assertion of =E2=80=9Cimpossible=E2=80=9D. Thunderbolt3 is = mostly just a PCIe bridge with a dangerously ineffective security model on top. The only = thing that a driver provides is an authorization handshake with the controller firmware that runs the security protocol. If you turn off the security = feature of Thunderbolt via the BIOS, no driver is necessary. What makes a driver interesting in the future is it being the foundation = for supporting USB4. I have some of that code written. It also will = integrate more closely with the DMAR/IOMMU to provide actual protection against malicious peripherals, instead of, like I said above, the dangerously ineffective security model that Thunderbolt3 promotes. Also, there=E2=80=99s some interesting potential with creating high = speed point-to-point packet networks that=E2=80=99s cheaper than 40Gb ethernet = on a per-port basis. The new generation of Thunderbolt4 routers with = multiple downstream ports makes this even more interesting. =20 I was hoping to upstream my driver this past month. Unfortunately I = wasted time going down more TB3 security rabbit holes (Pre-boot ACL support, to be specific), so I=E2=80=99m behind schedule. Also, I have a = long-standing problem with the AlpineRidge controllers that seems to make them very finicky = and failure prone, and I=E2=80=99ve wasted months so far trying to figure = out if the problem is with my driver or with the hardware. However, none of this = is necessary for updating one=E2=80=99s system beyond version 11.4. If you = wouldn=E2=80=99t mind sharing the specifics of your difficulties, I might be able to = help. Scott
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