From: Finn Thain <fthain@linux-m68k.org>
To: Geert Uytterhoeven <geert@linux-m68k.org>
Cc: Joshua Thompson <funaho@jurai.org>,
linux-m68k@lists.linux-m68k.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH v2] m68k/mac: Improve clocksource driver commentary
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2025 14:32:48 +1000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <f7b4c02a1c8ed74ccceb5535d7e1e202deada8ce.1750739568.git.fthain@linux-m68k.org> (raw)
qemu-system-m68k -M q800 has an old bug that causes the kernel to
occasionally complain about a soft lockup:
watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#0 stuck for 5107s!
There isn't any actual lockup. The via1 clocksource produced a large
jump in jiffies, causing the watchdog to detect a stale timestamp.
The 32-bit clocksource counter runs at 783360 Hz and its period is
about 5482 seconds. Applying the "nanosecond" approximation used in
get_timestamp() in kernel/watchdog.c then yields the duration reported
in the log message above (always 5107 or 5108 in my tests):
0xffffffff / VIA_CLOCK_FREQ * 10**9 / 2**30 = 5106.209 seconds
It is notoriously difficult to correctly emulate a MOS6522 VIA chip. So
it seems wise to document the VIA clocksource driver better, especially
those hardware behaviours which the kernel relies upon.
Cc: Joshua Thompson <funaho@jurai.org>
Signed-off-by: Finn Thain <fthain@linux-m68k.org>
---
Changed since v1:
- The letters A through E could be mistaken for hex digits so number the
states using roman numerals instead.
---
arch/m68k/mac/via.c | 16 ++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 16 insertions(+)
diff --git a/arch/m68k/mac/via.c b/arch/m68k/mac/via.c
index 9320d71ba8e9..5f77de8a7767 100644
--- a/arch/m68k/mac/via.c
+++ b/arch/m68k/mac/via.c
@@ -622,6 +622,22 @@ static u64 mac_read_clk(struct clocksource *cs)
* These problems are avoided by ignoring the low byte. Clock accuracy
* is 256 times worse (error can reach 0.327 ms) but CPU overhead is
* reduced by avoiding slow VIA register accesses.
+ *
+ * The VIA timer counter observably decrements to 0xFFFF before the
+ * counter reload interrupt gets raised. That complicates things a bit.
+ *
+ * State | vT1CH | VIA_TIMER_1_INT | inference drawn
+ * ------+------------+-----------------+-----------------------------
+ * i | FE thru 00 | false | counter is decrementing
+ * ii | FF | false | counter wrapped
+ * iii | FF | true | wrapped, interrupt raised
+ * iv | FF | false | wrapped, interrupt handled
+ * v | FE thru 00 | true | wrapped, interrupt unhandled
+ *
+ * State iv is never observed because handling the interrupt involves
+ * a 6522 register access and every access consumes a "phi 2" clock
+ * cycle. So 0xFF implies either state ii or state iii, depending on
+ * the value of the VIA_TIMER_1_INT bit.
*/
local_irq_save(flags);
--
2.49.0
next reply other threads:[~2025-06-24 4:36 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 2+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2025-06-24 4:32 Finn Thain [this message]
2025-07-06 9:08 ` [PATCH v2] m68k/mac: Improve clocksource driver commentary Geert Uytterhoeven
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=f7b4c02a1c8ed74ccceb5535d7e1e202deada8ce.1750739568.git.fthain@linux-m68k.org \
--to=fthain@linux-m68k.org \
--cc=funaho@jurai.org \
--cc=geert@linux-m68k.org \
--cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=linux-m68k@lists.linux-m68k.org \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox;
as well as URLs for NNTP newsgroup(s).