There is a couple of problems with the Broadcom TPM driver on a DELL
Latitude driver. First: it appears to disable kernel debugging as after I
have connected to the remote, the debugger will eventually stop responding
to commands. There is a caveat, however: I am using an Adaptec 1394 PCMCIA
card on the target for debug. Could that be causing the target to ignore
the debugger connection?
The second problem, which is irritating, is that supposedly this is a
release driver yet I get incredible amounts of debug spew. This gives me a
fairly strong indication of the professional level of the kernel
developers that Broadcom used to develop their drivers. Beyond being and
uncouth, rude, and lazy programming, my first guess is that Broadcom went
to a cheap-ass sweatshop to get the work done as cheaply as possible.
Debug spew in a released driver, unless it is a special request by a given
customer, is simply unforgivable.
The TPM is after all a device to promote security on a system. Methinks
I’ll turn on DV and see what else I can see.
The personal opinion of
Gary G. Little