linux-kernel - [PATCH v3 1/3] x86: Use HLT in default_idle when idle=nomwait cmdline arg is passed

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Date:   Tue, 10 May 2022 15:48:06 +0530
From:   Wyes Karny <wyes.karny@....com>
To:     <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
CC:     <Lewis.Carroll@....com>, <Mario.Limonciello@....com>,
        <gautham.shenoy@....com>, <Ananth.Narayan@....com>,
        <bharata@....com>, <len.brown@...el.com>, <x86@...nel.org>,
        <tglx@...utronix.de>, <mingo@...hat.com>, <bp@...en8.de>,
        <dave.hansen@...ux.intel.com>, <hpa@...or.com>,
        <peterz@...radead.org>, <chang.seok.bae@...el.com>,
        <keescook@...omium.org>, <metze@...ba.org>,
        <zhengqi.arch@...edance.com>, <mark.rutland@....com>,
        <puwen@...on.cn>, <rafael.j.wysocki@...el.com>,
        <andrew.cooper3@...rix.com>, <jing2.liu@...el.com>,
        <jmattson@...gle.com>, <pawan.kumar.gupta@...ux.intel.com>
Subject: [PATCH v3 1/3] x86: Use HLT in default_idle when idle=nomwait cmdline arg is passed

When kernel is booted with idle=nomwait do not use MWAIT as the
default idle state.

If the user boots the kernel with idle=nomwait, it is a clear
direction to not use mwait as the default idle state.
However, the current code does not take this into consideration
while selecting the default idle state on x86.

This patch fixes it by checking for the idle=nomwait boot option in
prefer_mwait_c1_over_halt().

Also update the documentation around idle=nomwait appropriately.

Signed-off-by: Wyes Karny <wyes.karny@....com>
---
Changes in v3:
- Update documentation around idle=mwait

 Documentation/admin-guide/pm/cpuidle.rst | 15 +++++++++------
 arch/x86/kernel/process.c                |  4 ++++
 2 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/pm/cpuidle.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/pm/cpuidle.rst
index aec2cd2aaea7..19754beb5a4e 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/pm/cpuidle.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/pm/cpuidle.rst
@@ -612,8 +612,8 @@ the ``menu`` governor to be used on the systems that use the ``ladder`` governor
 by default this way, for example.
 
 The other kernel command line parameters controlling CPU idle time management
-described below are only relevant for the *x86* architecture and some of
-them affect Intel processors only.
+described below are only relevant for the *x86* architecture and references
+to ``intel_idle`` affect Intel processors only.
 
 The *x86* architecture support code recognizes three kernel command line
 options related to CPU idle time management: ``idle=poll``, ``idle=halt``,
@@ -635,10 +635,13 @@ idle, so it very well may hurt single-thread computations performance as well as
 energy-efficiency.  Thus using it for performance reasons may not be a good idea
 at all.]
 
-The ``idle=nomwait`` option disables the ``intel_idle`` driver and causes
-``acpi_idle`` to be used (as long as all of the information needed by it is
-there in the system's ACPI tables), but it is not allowed to use the
-``MWAIT`` instruction of the CPUs to ask the hardware to enter idle states.
+The ``idle=nomwait`` option prevents the use of ``MWAIT`` instruction of
+the CPU to enter idle states. When this option is used, the ``acpi_idle``
+driver will use the ``HLT`` instruction instead of ``MWAIT``. On systems
+running Intel processors, this option disables the ``intel_idle`` driver
+and forces the use of the ``acpi_idle`` driver instead. Note that in either
+case, ``acpi_idle`` driver will function only if all the information needed
+by it is in the system's ACPI tables.
 
 In addition to the architecture-level kernel command line options affecting CPU
 idle time management, there are parameters affecting individual ``CPUIdle``
diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/process.c b/arch/x86/kernel/process.c
index b370767f5b19..49b915d1b7b4 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/process.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/process.c
@@ -824,6 +824,10 @@ static void amd_e400_idle(void)
  */
 static int prefer_mwait_c1_over_halt(const struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
 {
+	/* User has disallowed the use of MWAIT. Fallback to HALT */
+	if (boot_option_idle_override == IDLE_NOMWAIT)
+		return 0;
+
 	if (c->x86_vendor != X86_VENDOR_INTEL)
 		return 0;
 
-- 
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