linux-kernel - RE: bit fields && data tearing

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Date:	Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:38:56 -0700
From:	Marc Gauthier <marc@...ence.com>
To:	"paulmck@...ux.vnet.ibm.com" <paulmck@...ux.vnet.ibm.com>,
	Peter Hurley <peter@...leysoftware.com>
CC:	Michael Cree <mcree@...on.net.nz>,
	"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>,
	Benjamin Herrenschmidt <benh@...nel.crashing.org>,
	David Laight <David.Laight@...LAB.COM>,
	Jakub Jelinek <jakub@...hat.com>,
	"linux-arch@...r.kernel.org" <linux-arch@...r.kernel.org>,
	Tony Luck <tony.luck@...el.com>,
	"linux-ia64@...r.kernel.org" <linux-ia64@...r.kernel.org>,
	Oleg Nesterov <oleg@...hat.com>,
	"linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	Paul Mackerras <paulus@...ba.org>,
	"linuxppc-dev@...ts.ozlabs.org" <linuxppc-dev@...ts.ozlabs.org>,
	Miroslav Franc <mfranc@...hat.com>,
	Richard Henderson <rth@...ddle.net>,
	"linux-alpha@...r.kernel.org" <linux-alpha@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: RE: bit fields && data tearing

Paul E. McKenney wrote:
>On Fri, Sep 05, 2014 at 02:50:31PM -0400, Peter Hurley wrote:
>>On 09/05/2014 02:09 PM, Paul E. McKenney wrote:
>>> This commit documents the fact that it is not safe to use bitfields as
>>> shared variables in synchronization algorithms.  It also documents that
>>> CPUs must provide one-byte and two-byte load and store instructions
>>                    ^
>>                 atomic
> 
> Here you meant non-atomic?  My guess is that you are referring to the
> fact that you could emulate a one-byte store on pre-EV56 Alpha CPUs
> using the ll and sc atomic-read-modify-write instructions, correct?
> 
>>> in order to be supported by the Linux kernel.  (Michael Cree
>>> has agreed to the resulting non-support of pre-EV56 Alpha CPUs:
>>> https://lkml.org/lkml/2014/9/5/143.
[...]

>>> +     and 64-bit systems, respectively.  Note that this means that the
>>> +     Linux kernel does not support pre-EV56 Alpha CPUs, because these
>>> +     older CPUs do not provide one-byte and two-byte loads and stores.
>>                                  ^
>>                             non-atomic
> 
> I took this, thank you!

Eum, am I totally lost, or aren't both of these supposed to say "atomic" ?

Can't imagine requiring a CPU to provide non-atomic loads and stores
(i.e. requiring old Alpha behavior?).

-Marc
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