Re: [RFC patch] use thread.on_ustack to determine if on user stack

Luming Yu
2007-10-15T04:28:05Z

I'm __not__ quite sure, in this case, by reading source code, the code
path for the problem would be:
user_stack check <- fsys_mode check < - do_notify_resume_user
<-notify_resume_user <--
(pUStk) br.call.spnt.many rp=notify_resume_user (ia64_leave_kernel)

So on this code path, if fsys_mode is invoked, the pUStk should be TRUE.
if pUStk = thread.on_ustack, then thread.on_ustack should be TRUE too.
So my problem is I don't know if it is true that pUStk =
thread.on_ustack in fsys mode. And I didn't locate the code that the
thread.on_ustack is cleared to 0 during fsys mode.
So please help.

Thanks,
Luming

On 10/13/07, Fenghua Yu <fenghua.yu@intel.com> wrote:
> On 9/29/07, Luming Yu <luming.yu@gmail.com> wrote:
> >Hello list,
>
> >The PSR.lp bit of kernel thread kondemand sometimes would be set, then
> >causes set_pstate PAL call fails with invalid argument. I tracked down
> >to the place that the PSR.lp was set in do_notify_resume_user. I don't
> >understand why not use task->thread.on_ustack to
> >check if on user stack.in the first place. For optimization?
>
> The reason for not using on_ustack is because stack in fsys is a mixture of
> kernel states and user states. on_ustack is not a correct way to reflect fsys
> stack usage. It's cleared to 0 during fsys which can not be explained as it's
> not user stack.
>
> The current implementation of checking user_stack() is correct. Though it would
> be better to change user_stack()'s name to something like fsys_stack() to avoid
> future confusion.
>
> The patch actually always makes user_stack()=0 and fsys_mode()=0 during fsys
> execution. Thus there is no psr.lp=1 during fsys execution. And signal is always
> delivered during fsys execution.This masks the "Transition failure" issue
> instead of fixing it. The patch might cause issues in some stress tests.
>
> Could you please provide more debug info on the issue?
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Fenghua
>