linux-kernel - [PATCH] mm: vmscan: account for free pages to prevent infinite Loop in throttle_direct

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Message-ID: <20241130164346.436469-1-snishika@redhat.com>
Date: Sun,  1 Dec 2024 01:43:45 +0900
From: Seiji Nishikawa <snishika@...hat.com>
To: akpm@...ux-foundation.org,
	linux-mm@...ck.org
Cc: linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	mgorman@...hsingularity.net,
	snishika@...hat.com
Subject: [PATCH] mm: vmscan: account for free pages to prevent infinite Loop in throttle_direct_reclaim()

The task sometimes continues looping in throttle_direct_reclaim() 
because allow_direct_reclaim(pgdat) keeps returning false. 

 #0 [ffff80002cb6f8d0] __switch_to at ffff8000080095ac
 #1 [ffff80002cb6f900] __schedule at ffff800008abbd1c
 #2 [ffff80002cb6f990] schedule at ffff800008abc50c
 #3 [ffff80002cb6f9b0] throttle_direct_reclaim at ffff800008273550
 #4 [ffff80002cb6fa20] try_to_free_pages at ffff800008277b68
 #5 [ffff80002cb6fae0] __alloc_pages_nodemask at ffff8000082c4660
 #6 [ffff80002cb6fc50] alloc_pages_vma at ffff8000082e4a98
 #7 [ffff80002cb6fca0] do_anonymous_page at ffff80000829f5a8
 #8 [ffff80002cb6fce0] __handle_mm_fault at ffff8000082a5974
 #9 [ffff80002cb6fd90] handle_mm_fault at ffff8000082a5bd4

At this point, the pgdat contains the following two zones:

        NODE: 4  ZONE: 0  ADDR: ffff00817fffe540  NAME: "DMA32"
          SIZE: 20480  MIN/LOW/HIGH: 11/28/45
          VM_STAT:
                NR_FREE_PAGES: 359
        NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_ANON: 18813
          NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_ANON: 0
        NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_FILE: 50
          NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_FILE: 0
          NR_ZONE_UNEVICTABLE: 0
        NR_ZONE_WRITE_PENDING: 0
                     NR_MLOCK: 0
                    NR_BOUNCE: 0
                   NR_ZSPAGES: 0
            NR_FREE_CMA_PAGES: 0

        NODE: 4  ZONE: 1  ADDR: ffff00817fffec00  NAME: "Normal"
          SIZE: 8454144  PRESENT: 98304  MIN/LOW/HIGH: 68/166/264
          VM_STAT:
                NR_FREE_PAGES: 146
        NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_ANON: 94668
          NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_ANON: 3
        NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_FILE: 735
          NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_FILE: 78
          NR_ZONE_UNEVICTABLE: 0
        NR_ZONE_WRITE_PENDING: 0
                     NR_MLOCK: 0
                    NR_BOUNCE: 0
                   NR_ZSPAGES: 0
            NR_FREE_CMA_PAGES: 0

In allow_direct_reclaim(), while processing ZONE_DMA32, the sum of 
inactive/active file-backed pages calculated in zone_reclaimable_pages()
based on the result of zone_page_state_snapshot() is zero. 

Additionally, since this system lacks swap, the calculation of inactive/
active anonymous pages is skipped.

        crash> p nr_swap_pages
        nr_swap_pages = $1937 = {
          counter = 0
        }

As a result, ZONE_DMA32 is deemed unreclaimable and skipped, moving on 
to the processing of the next zone, ZONE_NORMAL, despite ZONE_DMA32 
having free pages significantly exceeding the high watermark.

The problem is that the pgdat->kswapd_failures hasn't been incremented.

        crash> px ((struct pglist_data *) 0xffff00817fffe540)->kswapd_failures
        $1935 = 0x0

This is because the node deemed balanced. The node balancing logic in 
balance_pgdat() evaluates all zones collectively. If one or more zones 
(e.g., ZONE_DMA32) have enough free pages to meet their watermarks, the 
entire node is deemed balanced. This causes balance_pgdat() to exit 
early before incrementing the kswapd_failures, as it considers the 
overall memory state acceptable, even though some zones (like 
ZONE_NORMAL) remain under significant pressure.

The new patch ensures that zone_reclaimable_pages() includes free pages 
(NR_FREE_PAGES) in its calculation when no other reclaimable pages are 
available (e.g., file-backed or anonymous pages). This change prevents 
zones like ZONE_DMA32, which have sufficient free pages, from being 
mistakenly deemed unreclaimable. By doing so, the patch ensures proper 
node balancing, avoids masking pressure on other zones like ZONE_NORMAL,
and prevents infinite loops in throttle_direct_reclaim() caused by 
allow_direct_reclaim(pgdat) repeatedly returning false.