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+
+________________
+NETIF Msg Level
+
+The design of the network interface message level setting.
+
+History
+
+ The design of the debugging message interface was guided and
+ constrained by backwards compatibility previous practice. It is useful
+ to understand the history and evolution in order to understand current
+ practice and relate it to older driver source code.
+
+ From the beginning of Linux, each network device driver has had a local
+ integer variable that controls the debug message level. The message
+ level ranged from 0 to 7, and monotonically increased in verbosity.
+
+ The message level was not precisely defined past level 3, but were
+ always implemented within +-1 of the specified level. Drivers tended
+ to shed the more verbose level messages as they matured.
+ 0 Minimal messages, only essential information on fatal errors.
+ 1 Standard messages, initialization status. No run-time messages
+ 2 Special media selection messages, generally timer-driver.
+ 3 Interface starts and stops, including normal status messages
+ 4 Tx and Rx frame error messages, and abnormal driver operation
+ 5 Tx packet queue information, interrupt events.
+ 6 Status on each completed Tx packet and received Rx packets
+ 7 Initial contents of Tx and Rx packets
+
+ Initially this message level variable was uniquely named in each driver
+ e.g. "lance_debug", so that a kernel symbolic debugger could locate and
+ modify the setting. When kernel modules became common, the variables
+ were consistently renamed to "debug" and allowed to be set as a module
+ parameter.
+
+ This approach worked well. However there is always a demand for
+ additional features. Over the years the following emerged as
+ reasonable and easily implemented enhancements
+ Using an ioctl() call to modify the level.
+ Per-interface rather than per-driver message level setting.
+ More selective control over the type of messages emitted.
+
+ The netif_msg recommandation adds these features with only a minor
+ complexity and code size increase.
+
+ The recommendation is the following points
+ Retaining the per-driver integer variable "debug" as a module
+ parameter with a default level of '1'.
+
+ Adding a per-interface private variable named "msg_enable". The
+ variable is a bit map rather than a level, and is initialized as
+ 1 << debug
+ Or more precisely
+ debug < 0 ? 0 : 1 << min(sizeof(int)-1, debug)
+
+ Messages should changes from
+ if (debug > 1)
+ printk(MSG_DEBUG "%s: ...
+ to
+ if (np->msg_enable & NETIF_MSG_LINK)
+ printk(MSG_DEBUG "%s: ...
+
+
+The set of message levels is named
+ Old level Name Bit position
+ 0 NETIF_MSG_DRV 0x0001
+ 1 NETIF_MSG_PROBE 0x0002
+ 2 NETIF_MSG_LINK 0x0004
+ 2 NETIF_MSG_TIMER 0x0004
+ 3 NETIF_MSG_IFDOWN 0x0008
+ 3 NETIF_MSG_IFUP 0x0008
+ 4 NETIF_MSG_RX_ERR 0x0010
+ 4 NETIF_MSG_TX_ERR 0x0010
+ 5 NETIF_MSG_TX_QUEUED 0x0020
+ 5 NETIF_MSG_INTR 0x0020
+ 6 NETIF_MSG_TX_DONE 0x0040
+ 6 NETIF_MSG_RX_STATUS 0x0040
+ 7 NETIF_MSG_PKTDATA 0x0080
+
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