From: Martin Lau ring_buffer_poll_wait() should always put the poll_table to its wait_queue even there is immediate data available. Otherwise, the following epoll and read sequence will eventually hang forever: 1. Put some data to make the trace_pipe ring_buffer read ready first 2. epoll_ctl(efd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, trace_pipe_fd, ee) 3. epoll_wait() 4. read(trace_pipe_fd) till EAGAIN 5. Add some more data to the trace_pipe ring_buffer 6. epoll_wait() -> this epoll_wait() will block forever ~ During the epoll_ctl(efd, EPOLL_CTL_ADD,...) call in step 2, ring_buffer_poll_wait() returns immediately without adding poll_table, which has poll_table->_qproc pointing to ep_poll_callback(), to its wait_queue. ~ During the epoll_wait() call in step 3 and step 6, ring_buffer_poll_wait() cannot add ep_poll_callback() to its wait_queue because the poll_table->_qproc is NULL and it is how epoll works. ~ When there is new data available in step 6, ring_buffer does not know it has to call ep_poll_callback() because it is not in its wait queue. Hence, block forever. Other poll implementation seems to call poll_wait() unconditionally as the very first thing to do. For example, tcp_poll() in tcp.c. Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/p/20140610060637.GA14045@devbig242.prn2.facebook.com Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org # 2.6.27 Fixes: 2a2cc8f7c4d0 "ftrace: allow the event pipe to be polled" Reviewed-by: Chris Mason Signed-off-by: Martin Lau Signed-off-by: Steven Rostedt --- kernel/trace/ring_buffer.c | 4 ---- 1 file changed, 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/kernel/trace/ring_buffer.c b/kernel/trace/ring_buffer.c index 7c56c3d06943..ff7027199a9a 100644 --- a/kernel/trace/ring_buffer.c +++ b/kernel/trace/ring_buffer.c @@ -616,10 +616,6 @@ int ring_buffer_poll_wait(struct ring_buffer *buffer, int cpu, struct ring_buffer_per_cpu *cpu_buffer; struct rb_irq_work *work; - if ((cpu == RING_BUFFER_ALL_CPUS && !ring_buffer_empty(buffer)) || - (cpu != RING_BUFFER_ALL_CPUS && !ring_buffer_empty_cpu(buffer, cpu))) - return POLLIN | POLLRDNORM; - if (cpu == RING_BUFFER_ALL_CPUS) work = &buffer->irq_work; else { -- 2.0.0 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/