diff --git a/drivers/dma/bcm2835-dma.c b/drivers/dma/bcm2835-dma.c
index b3bc382..4db0e23 100644
--- a/drivers/dma/bcm2835-dma.c
+++ b/drivers/dma/bcm2835-dma.c
@@ -88,12 +88,12 @@ struct bcm2835_desc {
 	struct virt_dma_desc vd;
 	enum dma_transfer_direction dir;
 
-	struct bcm2835_cb_entry *cb_list;
-
 	unsigned int frames;
 	size_t size;
 
 	bool cyclic;
+
+	struct bcm2835_cb_entry cb_list[];
 };
 
 #define BCM2835_DMA_CS		0x00
@@ -169,6 +169,13 @@ struct bcm2835_desc {
 #define BCM2835_DMA_CHAN(n)	((n) << 8) /* Base address */
 #define BCM2835_DMA_CHANIO(base, n) ((base) + BCM2835_DMA_CHAN(n))
 
+/* how many frames of max_len size do we need to transfer len bytes */
+static inline size_t bcm2835_dma_frames_for_length(size_t len,
+						   size_t max_len)
+{
+	return DIV_ROUND_UP(len, max_len);
+}
+
 static inline struct bcm2835_dmadev *to_bcm2835_dma_dev(struct dma_device *d)
 {
 	return container_of(d, struct bcm2835_dmadev, ddev);
@@ -185,19 +192,161 @@ static inline struct bcm2835_desc *to_bcm2835_dma_desc(
 	return container_of(t, struct bcm2835_desc, vd.tx);
 }
 
-static void bcm2835_dma_desc_free(struct virt_dma_desc *vd)
+static void bcm2835_dma_free_cb_chain(struct bcm2835_desc *desc)
 {
-	struct bcm2835_desc *desc = container_of(vd, struct bcm2835_desc, vd);
-	int i;
+	size_t i;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < desc->frames; i++)
 		dma_pool_free(desc->c->cb_pool, desc->cb_list[i].cb,
 			      desc->cb_list[i].paddr);
 
-	kfree(desc->cb_list);
 	kfree(desc);
 }
 
+static void bcm2835_dma_desc_free(struct virt_dma_desc *vd)
+{
+	bcm2835_dma_free_cb_chain(
+		container_of(vd, struct bcm2835_desc, vd));
+}
+
+static void bcm2835_dma_create_cb_set_length(
+	struct bcm2835_chan *chan,
+	struct bcm2835_dma_cb *control_block,
+	size_t len,
+	size_t period_len,
+	size_t *total_len,
+	u32 finalextrainfo)
+{
+	/* set the length */
+	control_block->length = len;
+
+	/* finished if we have no period_length */
+	if (!period_len)
+		return;
+
+	/*
+	 * period_len means: that we need to generate
+	 * transfers that are terminating at every
+	 * multiple of period_len - this is typically
+	 * used to set the interrupt flag in info
+	 * which is required during cyclic transfers
+	 */
+
+	/* have we filled in period_length yet? */
+	if (*total_len + control_block->length < period_len)
+		return;
+
+	/* calculate the length that remains to reach period_length */
+	control_block->length = period_len - *total_len;
+
+	/* reset total_length for next period */
+	*total_len = 0;
+
+	/* add extrainfo bits in info */
+	control_block->info |= finalextrainfo;
+}
+
+/**
+ * bcm2835_dma_create_cb_chain - create a control block and fills data in
+ *
+ * @chan:           the @dma_chan for which we run this
+ * @direction:      the direction in which we transfer
+ * @cyclic:         it is a cyclic transfer
+ * @info:           the default info bits to apply per controlblock
+ * @frames:         number of controlblocks to allocate
+ * @src:            the src address to assign (if the S_INC bit is set
+ *                  in @info, then it gets incremented)
+ * @dst:            the dst address to assign (if the D_INC bit is set
+ *                  in @info, then it gets incremented)
+ * @buf_len:        the full buffer length (may also be 0)
+ * @period_len:     the period length when to apply @finalextrainfo
+ *                  in addition to the last transfer
+ *                  this will also break some control-blocks early
+ * @finalextrainfo: additional bits in last controlblock
+ *                  (or when period_len is reached in case of cyclic)
+ * @gfp:            the GFP flag to use for allocation
+ */
+static struct bcm2835_desc *bcm2835_dma_create_cb_chain(
+	struct dma_chan *chan, enum dma_transfer_direction direction,
+	bool cyclic, u32 info, u32 finalextrainfo, size_t frames,
+	dma_addr_t src, dma_addr_t dst, size_t buf_len,
+	size_t period_len, gfp_t gfp)
+{
+	struct bcm2835_chan *c = to_bcm2835_dma_chan(chan);
+	size_t len = buf_len, total_len;
+	size_t frame;
+	struct bcm2835_desc *d;
+	struct bcm2835_cb_entry *cb_entry;
+	struct bcm2835_dma_cb *control_block;
+
+	/* allocate and setup the descriptor. */
+	d = kzalloc(sizeof(*d) + frames * sizeof(struct bcm2835_cb_entry),
+		    gfp);
+	if (!d)
+		return NULL;
+
+	d->c = c;
+	d->dir = direction;
+	d->cyclic = cyclic;
+
+	/*
+	 * Iterate over all frames, create a control block
+	 * for each frame and link them together.
+	 */
+	for (frame = 0, total_len = 0; frame < frames; d->frames++, frame++) {
+		cb_entry = &d->cb_list[frame];
+		cb_entry->cb = dma_pool_alloc(c->cb_pool, gfp,
+					      &cb_entry->paddr);
+		if (!cb_entry->cb)
+			goto error_cb;
+
+		/* fill in the control block */
+		control_block = cb_entry->cb;
+		control_block->info = info;
+		control_block->src = src;
+		control_block->dst = dst;
+		control_block->stride = 0;
+		control_block->next = 0;
+		/* set up length in control_block if requested */
+		if (buf_len) {
+			/* calculate length honoring period_length */
+			bcm2835_dma_create_cb_set_length(
+				c, control_block,
+				len, period_len, &total_len,
+				cyclic ? finalextrainfo : 0);
+
+			/* calculate new remaining length */
+			len -= control_block->length;
+		}
+
+		/* link this the last controlblock */
+		if (frame)
+			d->cb_list[frame - 1].cb->next = cb_entry->paddr;
+
+		/* update src and dst and length */
+		if (src && (info & BCM2835_DMA_S_INC))
+			src += control_block->length;
+		if (dst && (info & BCM2835_DMA_D_INC))
+			dst += control_block->length;
+
+		/* Length of total transfer */
+		d->size += control_block->length;
+	}
+
+	/* the last frame requires extra flags */
+	d->cb_list[d->frames - 1].cb->info |= finalextrainfo;
+
+	/* detect a size missmatch */
+	if (buf_len && (d->size != buf_len))
+		goto error_cb;
+
+	return d;
+error_cb:
+	bcm2835_dma_free_cb_chain(d);
+
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 static int bcm2835_dma_abort(void __iomem *chan_base)
 {
 	unsigned long cs;
@@ -391,12 +540,11 @@ static struct dma_async_tx_descriptor *bcm2835_dma_prep_dma_cyclic(
 	unsigned long flags)
 {
 	struct bcm2835_chan *c = to_bcm2835_dma_chan(chan);
-	enum dma_slave_buswidth dev_width;
 	struct bcm2835_desc *d;
-	dma_addr_t dev_addr;
-	unsigned int es, sync_type;
-	unsigned int frame;
-	int i;
+	dma_addr_t src, dst;
+	u32 info = BCM2835_DMA_WAIT_RESP;
+	u32 extra = BCM2835_DMA_INT_EN;
+	size_t frames;
 
 	/* Grab configuration */
 	if (!is_slave_direction(direction)) {
@@ -404,104 +552,58 @@ static struct dma_async_tx_descriptor *bcm2835_dma_prep_dma_cyclic(
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	if (direction == DMA_DEV_TO_MEM) {
-		dev_addr = c->cfg.src_addr;
-		dev_width = c->cfg.src_addr_width;
-		sync_type = BCM2835_DMA_S_DREQ;
-	} else {
-		dev_addr = c->cfg.dst_addr;
-		dev_width = c->cfg.dst_addr_width;
-		sync_type = BCM2835_DMA_D_DREQ;
-	}
-
-	/* Bus width translates to the element size (ES) */
-	switch (dev_width) {
-	case DMA_SLAVE_BUSWIDTH_4_BYTES:
-		es = BCM2835_DMA_DATA_TYPE_S32;
-		break;
-	default:
+	if (!buf_len) {
+		dev_err(chan->device->dev,
+			"%s: bad buffer length (= 0)\n", __func__);
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	/* Now allocate and setup the descriptor. */
-	d = kzalloc(sizeof(*d), GFP_NOWAIT);
-	if (!d)
-		return NULL;
+	/*
+	 * warn if buf_len is not a multiple of period_len - this may leed
+	 * to unexpected latencies for interrupts and thus audiable clicks
+	 */
+	if (buf_len % period_len)
+		dev_warn_once(chan->device->dev,
+			      "%s: buffer_length (%zd) is not a multiple of period_len (%zd)\n",
+			      __func__, buf_len, period_len);
 
-	d->c = c;
-	d->dir = direction;
-	d->frames = buf_len / period_len;
-	d->cyclic = true;
+	/* Setup DREQ channel */
+	if (c->dreq != 0)
+		info |= BCM2835_DMA_PER_MAP(c->dreq);
 
-	d->cb_list = kcalloc(d->frames, sizeof(*d->cb_list), GFP_KERNEL);
-	if (!d->cb_list) {
-		kfree(d);
-		return NULL;
+	if (direction == DMA_DEV_TO_MEM) {
+		if (c->cfg.src_addr_width != DMA_SLAVE_BUSWIDTH_4_BYTES)
+			return NULL;
+		src = c->cfg.src_addr;
+		dst = buf_addr;
+		info |= BCM2835_DMA_S_DREQ | BCM2835_DMA_D_INC;
+	} else {
+		if (c->cfg.dst_addr_width != DMA_SLAVE_BUSWIDTH_4_BYTES)
+			return NULL;
+		dst = c->cfg.dst_addr;
+		src = buf_addr;
+		info |= BCM2835_DMA_D_DREQ | BCM2835_DMA_S_INC;
 	}
-	/* Allocate memory for control blocks */
-	for (i = 0; i < d->frames; i++) {
-		struct bcm2835_cb_entry *cb_entry = &d->cb_list[i];
 
-		cb_entry->cb = dma_pool_zalloc(c->cb_pool, GFP_ATOMIC,
-					       &cb_entry->paddr);
-		if (!cb_entry->cb)
-			goto error_cb;
-	}
+	/* calculate number of frames */
+	frames = DIV_ROUND_UP(buf_len, period_len);
 
 	/*
-	 * Iterate over all frames, create a control block
-	 * for each frame and link them together.
+	 * allocate the CB chain
+	 * note that we need to use GFP_NOWAIT, as the ALSA i2s dmaengine
+	 * implementation calls prep_dma_cyclic with interrupts disabled.
 	 */
-	for (frame = 0; frame < d->frames; frame++) {
-		struct bcm2835_dma_cb *control_block = d->cb_list[frame].cb;
-
-		/* Setup adresses */
-		if (d->dir == DMA_DEV_TO_MEM) {
-			control_block->info = BCM2835_DMA_D_INC;
-			control_block->src = dev_addr;
-			control_block->dst = buf_addr + frame * period_len;
-		} else {
-			control_block->info = BCM2835_DMA_S_INC;
-			control_block->src = buf_addr + frame * period_len;
-			control_block->dst = dev_addr;
-		}
-
-		/* Enable interrupt */
-		control_block->info |= BCM2835_DMA_INT_EN;
-
-		/* Setup synchronization */
-		if (sync_type != 0)
-			control_block->info |= sync_type;
-
-		/* Setup DREQ channel */
-		if (c->dreq != 0)
-			control_block->info |=
-				BCM2835_DMA_PER_MAP(c->dreq);
-
-		/* Length of a frame */
-		control_block->length = period_len;
-		d->size += control_block->length;
+	d = bcm2835_dma_create_cb_chain(chan, direction, true,
+					info, extra,
+					frames, src, dst, buf_len,
+					period_len, GFP_NOWAIT);
+	if (!d)
+		return NULL;
 
-		/*
-		 * Next block is the next frame.
-		 * This DMA engine driver currently only supports cyclic DMA.
-		 * Therefore, wrap around at number of frames.
-		 */
-		control_block->next = d->cb_list[((frame + 1) % d->frames)].paddr;
-	}
+	/* wrap around into a loop */
+	d->cb_list[d->frames - 1].cb->next = d->cb_list[0].paddr;
 
 	return vchan_tx_prep(&c->vc, &d->vd, flags);
-error_cb:
-	i--;
-	for (; i >= 0; i--) {
-		struct bcm2835_cb_entry *cb_entry = &d->cb_list[i];
-
-		dma_pool_free(c->cb_pool, cb_entry->cb, cb_entry->paddr);
-	}
-
-	kfree(d->cb_list);
-	kfree(d);
-	return NULL;
 }
 
 static int bcm2835_dma_slave_config(struct dma_chan *chan,
