netdev - Re: [REGRESSION] Recent swiotlb DMA_FROM_DEVICE fixes break ath9k-based AP

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Date:   Sun, 27 Mar 2022 05:48:48 +0200
From:   Halil Pasic <pasic@...ux.ibm.com>
To:     Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
Cc:     Toke Høiland-Jørgensen <toke@...e.dk>,
        Robin Murphy <robin.murphy@....com>,
        Christoph Hellwig <hch@....de>,
        Maxime Bizon <mbizon@...ebox.fr>,
        Oleksandr Natalenko <oleksandr@...alenko.name>,
        Marek Szyprowski <m.szyprowski@...sung.com>,
        Kalle Valo <kvalo@...nel.org>,
        "David S. Miller" <davem@...emloft.net>,
        Jakub Kicinski <kuba@...nel.org>,
        Paolo Abeni <pabeni@...hat.com>,
        Olha Cherevyk <olha.cherevyk@...il.com>,
        iommu <iommu@...ts.linux-foundation.org>,
        linux-wireless <linux-wireless@...r.kernel.org>,
        Netdev <netdev@...r.kernel.org>,
        Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
        stable <stable@...r.kernel.org>,
        Halil Pasic <pasic@...ux.ibm.com>
Subject: Re: [REGRESSION] Recent swiotlb DMA_FROM_DEVICE fixes break
 ath9k-based AP

On Thu, 24 Mar 2022 12:26:53 -0700
Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org> wrote:

> So I don't think the dma_sync_single_for_device() is *wrong* per se,
> because the CPU didn't actually do any modifications.
> 
> But yes, I think it's unnecessary - because any later CPU accesses
> would need that dma_sync_single_for_cpu() anyway, which should
> invalidate any stale caches.
> 
> And it clearly doesn't work in a bounce-buffer situation, but honestly
> I don't think a "CPU modified buffers concurrently with DMA" can
> *ever* work in that situation, so I think it's wrong for a bounce
> buffer model to ever do anything in the dma_sync_single_for_device()
> situation.

I agree it CPU modified buffers *concurrently* with DMA can never work,
and I believe the ownership model was conceived to prevent this
situation. But a CPU can modify the buffer *after* DMA has written to
it, while the mapping is still alive. For example one could do one
partial read from the device, *after* the DMA is done,
sync_for_cpu(DMA_FROM_DEVICE), examine, then zero out the entire buffer,
sync_for_device(DMA_FROM_DEVICE), make the device do partial DMA, do
dma_unmap and expect no residue from the fist DMA. That is expect that
the zeroing out was effective.

The point I'm trying to make is: if concurrent is even permitted (it
isn't because of ownership) swiotlb woudn't know if we are dealing with
the *concurrent* case, which is completely bogous, or with the
*sequential* case, which at least in theory could work. And if we don't
do anyting on the sync_for_device(DMA_FROM_DEVICE) we render
that zeroing out the entire buffer form my example ineffective, because
it would not reach the bounce buffer, and on dma_unmap we would overwrite
the original buffer with the content of the bounce buffer.

Regards,
Halil