Message-ID: <55A05F56.90305@hurleysoftware.com>
Date:	Fri, 10 Jul 2015 20:12:06 -0400
From:	Peter Hurley <peter@...leysoftware.com>
To:	Taichi Kageyama <t-kageyama@...jp.nec.com>,
	Prarit Bhargava <prarit@...hat.com>
CC:	"gregkh@...uxfoundation.org" <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
	"linux-serial@...r.kernel.org" <linux-serial@...r.kernel.org>,
	"jslaby@...e.cz" <jslaby@...e.cz>,
	"linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	Naoya Horiguchi <n-horiguchi@...jp.nec.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/2] serial: 8250: Allow to skip autoconfig_irq() for
 a console

On 07/09/2015 01:32 AM, Taichi Kageyama wrote:
> On 2015/07/08 23:00, Prarit Bhargava wrote:
>> On 07/08/2015 09:51 AM, Peter Hurley wrote:
>>> On 07/08/2015 08:53 AM, Prarit Bhargava wrote:
>>>> On 07/08/2015 07:55 AM, Peter Hurley wrote:
>>>>> On 06/05/2015 06:03 AM, Taichi Kageyama wrote:
>>>>>> This patch provides a new parameter as a workaround of the following
>>>>>> problem. It allows us to skip autoconfig_irq() and to use a well-known irq
>>>>>> number for a console even if CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_DETECT_IRQ is defined.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There're cases where autoconfig_irq() fails during boot.
>>>>>> In these cases, the console doesn't work in interrupt mode,
>>>>>> the mode cannot be changed anymore, and "input overrun"
>>>>>> (which can make operation mistakes) happens easily.
>>>>>> This problem happens with high rate every boot once it occurs
>>>>>> because the boot sequence is always almost same.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> autoconfig_irq() assumes that a CPU can handle an interrupt from a serial
>>>>>> during the waiting time, but there're some cases where the CPU cannot
>>>>>> handle the interrupt for longer than the time. It completely depends on
>>>>>> how other functions work on the CPU. Ideally, autoconfig_irq() should be
>>>>>> fixed
>>>>>
> 
> Thank you for your comments.
> 
>>>>> It completely depends on how long some other driver has interrupts disabled,
> 
> Agree.
> 
>>>>> which is a problem that needs fixed _in that driver_. autoconfig_irq() does not
>>>>> need fixing.
> 
> Peter, ideally, you're right.
> However, we cannot assume how long other drivers disable interrupts.
> That's why I introduced this workaround.
> In my opinion, a console is important and always should be available
> even if other drivers have a bad behavior.

I have no problem with wanting to make the console more robust, but
rather with the hacky way this is being done.

Better solutions:
1. Fix autoprobing to force irq affinity to autoprobing cpu
2. Fix how the 8250 driver behaves with no irq
3. Fix printk locking to be more granular (this needs doing anyway)
4. Add exclusive port mode for console

Plus it wouldn't hurt to add some diagnostics to automate discovery
of misbehaving drivers that break autoprobing.

Perhaps there's something else going on wrt your Serial-over-Lan device,
like the driver doesn't have it in the correct state. How do you know
that the device has actually raised IRQ and that the problem is
disabled interrupts?


>>>>> A typical cause of this behavior is printk spew from overly-instrumented
>>>>> debugging of some driver (trace_printk is better suited to heavy instrumentation).
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Peter, I understand what you're saying, however the problem is that this is the
>>>> serial driver which is one of, if not _the_ main debug output mechanism in the
>>>> kernel.
> 
> I tried fixing the one of them, 8250 driver.
>   "[PATCH 1/2] serial: 8250: Fix autoconfig_irq() to avoid race conditions".
>   https://lkml.org/lkml/2015/6/5/218
> 
> The problem can happen when the drivers show just info level message during boot.
> It depends on the timing completely.

Right, but patch 1/2 addresses that problem, correct?


>>>> I'm not sure I agree with doing this patch, but perhaps an easier approach would
>>>> be to add a debug kernel parameter like "serial.force_irq=4" to force the irq to
>>>> a previously known good value?  That way the issue of the broken driver can be
>>>> debugged.
> 
> Prarit, I think it's good if the serial id can be also specified.
> 
> I thought adding irq option to "console" kernel parameter before,
> but it was not good idea because the impact was not small
> and passing irq# was not required in most cases.
>     - PnP serial device can get valid irq#
>     - Most on-board serial for console use legacy fixed irq#, like irq3, irq4.
> 
> So, I designed this patch like below.
>   - It allows console serial to skip autoconfig_irq.
>     Actually I assumes console serial uses a typical irq# in old_serial_port[],
>     but it's the same case where CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_DETECT_IRQ is not defined.
>   - It allows non-console serial to kick autoconfig_irq.
>     setserial command can try it again later if it fails on boot time.
> 
>>>
>>> For debugging purposes, can you use a kernel built with
>>> CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_DETECT_IRQ=n?
> 
> I know "CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_DETECT_IRQ=n" is one of solutions
> because autoconfig_irq() is not used on boot time in this case.
> However, I know some Linux distributions actually use this config
> and I assume someone may require it.

I don't want to add a module parameter to preemptively fix some
problem that "someone else might require".

Module parameters should absolutely be a last resort solution to
an actual problem that is not solvable some other way.

Regards,
Peter Hurley

>>> What is the platform and device type?
>>>
>>
>> Taichi?
> 
> I saw the original problem on x86-64 platforms with RHEL6.6.
> The serial was SOL(serial over LAN), not registered as PnP device.


[...]

>>>>>> to control these cases but as long as auto_irq algorithm is used,
>>>>>> it's hard to know which CPU can handle an interrupt from a serial and
>>>>>> to assure the interrupt of the CPU is enabled during auto_irq.
>>>>>> Meanwhile for legacy consoles, they actually don't require auto_irq
>>>>>> because they basically use well-known irq number.
>>>>>> For non-console serials, this workaround is not required
>>>>>> because setserial command can kick autoconfig_irq() again for them.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Signed-off-by: Taichi Kageyama <t-kageyama@...jp.nec.com>
>>>>>> Cc: Naoya Horiguchi <n-horiguchi@...jp.nec.com>
>>>>>> ---
>>>>>>    drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c |   17 +++++++++++++++++
>>>>>>    1 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> diff --git a/drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c b/drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c
>>>>>> index 6bf31f2..60fda28 100644
>>>>>> --- a/drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c
>>>>>> +++ b/drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c
>>>>>> @@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ static int serial_index(struct uart_port *port)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>    static unsigned int skip_txen_test; /* force skip of txen test at init time */
>>>>>>
>>>>>> +static unsigned int skip_cons_autoirq; /* force skip autoirq for console */
>>>>>> +
>>>>>>    /*
>>>>>>     * Debugging.
>>>>>>     */
>>>>>> @@ -3336,6 +3338,9 @@ serial8250_register_ports(struct uart_driver *drv, struct device *dev)
>>>>>>    		if (skip_txen_test)
>>>>>>    			up->port.flags |= UPF_NO_TXEN_TEST;
>>>>>>
>>>>>> +		if (uart_console(&up->port) && skip_cons_autoirq)
>>>>>> +			up->port.flags &= ~UPF_AUTO_IRQ;
>>>>>> +
>>>>>>    		uart_add_one_port(drv, &up->port);
>>>>>>    	}
>>>>>>    }
>>>>>> @@ -3875,6 +3880,9 @@ int serial8250_register_8250_port(struct uart_8250_port *up)
>>>>>>    		if (skip_txen_test)
>>>>>>    			uart->port.flags |= UPF_NO_TXEN_TEST;
>>>>>>
>>>>>> +		if (uart_console(&uart->port) && skip_cons_autoirq)
>>>>>> +			uart->port.flags &= ~UPF_AUTO_IRQ;
>>>>>> +
>>>>>>    		if (up->port.flags & UPF_FIXED_TYPE)
>>>>>>    			uart->port.type = up->port.type;
>>>>>>
>>>>>> @@ -3936,6 +3944,10 @@ void serial8250_unregister_port(int line)
>>>>>>    		uart->port.flags &= ~UPF_BOOT_AUTOCONF;
>>>>>>    		if (skip_txen_test)
>>>>>>    			uart->port.flags |= UPF_NO_TXEN_TEST;
>>>>>> +
>>>>>> +		if (uart_console(&uart->port) && skip_cons_autoirq)
>>>>>> +			uart->port.flags &= ~UPF_AUTO_IRQ;
>>>>>> +
>>>>>>    		uart->port.type = PORT_UNKNOWN;
>>>>>>    		uart->port.dev = &serial8250_isa_devs->dev;
>>>>>>    		uart->capabilities = 0;
>>>>>> @@ -4044,6 +4056,9 @@ MODULE_PARM_DESC(nr_uarts, "Maximum number of UARTs supported. (1-" __MODULE_STR
>>>>>>    module_param(skip_txen_test, uint, 0644);
>>>>>>    MODULE_PARM_DESC(skip_txen_test, "Skip checking for the TXEN bug at init time");
>>>>>>
>>>>>> +module_param(skip_cons_autoirq, uint, 0644);
>>>>>> +MODULE_PARM_DESC(skip_cons_autoirq, "Skip auto irq for console during boot");
>>>>>> +
>>>>>>    #ifdef CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_RSA
>>>>>>    module_param_array(probe_rsa, ulong, &probe_rsa_count, 0444);
>>>>>>    MODULE_PARM_DESC(probe_rsa, "Probe I/O ports for RSA");
>>>>>> @@ -4070,6 +4085,8 @@ static void __used s8250_options(void)
>>>>>>    	module_param_cb(share_irqs, &param_ops_uint, &share_irqs, 0644);
>>>>>>    	module_param_cb(nr_uarts, &param_ops_uint, &nr_uarts, 0644);
>>>>>>    	module_param_cb(skip_txen_test, &param_ops_uint, &skip_txen_test, 0644);
>>>>>> +	module_param_cb(skip_cons_autoirq, &param_ops_uint,
>>>>>> +		&skip_cons_autoirq, 0644);
>>>>>>    #ifdef CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_RSA
>>>>>>    	__module_param_call(MODULE_PARAM_PREFIX, probe_rsa,
>>>>>>    		&param_array_ops, .arr = &__param_arr_probe_rsa,
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>

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