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From: Ian Rogers <irogers@google.com>
To: irogers@google.com, acme@kernel.org, namhyung@kernel.org
Cc: adrian.hunter@intel.com, james.clark@linaro.org,
	jolsa@kernel.org,  leo.yan@arm.com, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
	 linux-perf-users@vger.kernel.org, mingo@redhat.com,
	peterz@infradead.org,  thomas.falcon@intel.com,
	tmricht@linux.ibm.com
Subject: [PATCH v3 09/13] perf tests: Fix flakiness in branch stack sampling tests
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2026 09:48:14 -0700	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260616164819.370939-10-irogers@google.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260616164819.370939-1-irogers@google.com>

The branch stack sampling test (test 130) runs short iteration-based
workloads to verify syscall, kernel, and trap branch stack sampling.
Specifically, `test_syscall()` and `test_kernel_branches()` run `perf
bench syscall basic` with loop counts of 8000 and 1000, and
`test_trap_eret_branches()` runs `traploop` with 1000 iterations.

Because these loop limits are extremely small, the total benchmark
runtimes last only a few milliseconds (or less). Under high load,
virtualization, or coarse sampling conditions, PMU cycle sampling fails to
capture enough samples inside the brief benchmark loops. This leads to
false negatives where the script output lacks the expected syscall,
kernel, or trap branch entries (e.g. "ERROR: Branches missing getppid[^
]*/SYSCALL/").

Fix this by increasing the workload loop counts to 100,000 across all
three test sections. Running 100,000 loops still finishes virtually
instantaneously (less than 0.1 seconds), but generates enough iterations
to guarantee robust branch stack capture.

Fixes: b55878c90ab9 ("perf test: Add test for branch stack sampling")
Assisted-by: Antigravity:gemini-3.1-pro
Signed-off-by: Ian Rogers <irogers@google.com>
---
 tools/perf/tests/shell/test_brstack.sh | 6 +++---
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/shell/test_brstack.sh b/tools/perf/tests/shell/test_brstack.sh
index eb5837f82e39..be46a68daf76 100755
--- a/tools/perf/tests/shell/test_brstack.sh
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/shell/test_brstack.sh
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ test_trap_eret_branches() {
 	start_err=$err
 	err=0
 	perf record -o $TMPDIR/perf.data --branch-filter any,save_type,u,k -- \
-		perf test -w traploop 1000 > "$TMPDIR/record.txt" 2>&1
+		perf test -w traploop 100000 > "$TMPDIR/record.txt" 2>&1
 	perf script -i $TMPDIR/perf.data --fields brstacksym | \
 		tr ' ' '\n' > $TMPDIR/perf.script
 
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ test_kernel_branches() {
 	start_err=$err
 	err=0
 	perf record -o $TMPDIR/perf.data --branch-filter any,k -- \
-		perf bench syscall basic --loop 1000 > "$TMPDIR/record.txt" 2>&1
+		perf bench syscall basic --loop 100000 > "$TMPDIR/record.txt" 2>&1
 	perf script -i $TMPDIR/perf.data --fields brstack | \
 		tr ' ' '\n' > $TMPDIR/perf.script
 
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ test_syscall() {
 	err=0
 	perf record -o $TMPDIR/perf.data --branch-filter \
 		any_call,save_type,u,k -c 10007 -- \
-		perf bench syscall basic --loop 8000  > "$TMPDIR/record.txt" 2>&1
+		perf bench syscall basic --loop 100000  > "$TMPDIR/record.txt" 2>&1
 	perf script -i $TMPDIR/perf.data --fields brstacksym | \
 		tr ' ' '\n' > $TMPDIR/perf.script
 
-- 
2.54.0.1189.g8c84645362-goog


  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-06-16 16:48 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 59+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-06-16  1:27 [PATCH v1 00/12] perf tests: Enhancements, speedups, and flakiness fixes Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 01/12] perf parse-events: Restrict core PMU bypass to --cputype option Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:44   ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 02/12] perf test: Truncate test description to fit terminal width Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:38   ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 03/12] perf tests workloads: Support sub-second durations in noploop and thloop Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:35   ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 04/12] perf tests: Add robust record retry helper and use subsecond workloads Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:38   ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 05/12] perf tests: Skip metrics validation if system-wide recording lacks permission Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:41   ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 06/12] perf tests: Fix Python JIT dump profiling test failure Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:39   ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 07/12] perf tests: Fix flakiness in trace record and replay test Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:42   ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 08/12] perf tests: Fix flakiness in BPF counters test on hybrid systems Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:35   ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 09/12] perf tests: Fix flakiness in branch stack sampling tests Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 10/12] perf tests: Speed up off-cpu profiling tests Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:41   ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 11/12] perf tests: Speed up lock contention analysis shell test Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  1:27 ` [PATCH v1 12/12] perf tests: Speed up metrics checking shell tests Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:13 ` [PATCH v2 00/12] perf tests: Enhance robustness, speed up execution, and fix flakiness Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:13   ` [PATCH v2 01/12] perf parse-events: Restrict core PMU bypass to --cputype option Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:31     ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16 15:14     ` Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo
2026-06-16 15:17     ` Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo
2026-06-16  6:13   ` [PATCH v2 02/12] perf test: Truncate test description to fit terminal width Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:24     ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16 15:25     ` Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo
2026-06-16  6:13   ` [PATCH v2 03/12] perf tests workloads: Support sub-second durations in noploop and thloop Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:22     ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  6:13   ` [PATCH v2 04/12] perf tests: Add robust record retry helper and use subsecond workloads Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:27     ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  6:13   ` [PATCH v2 05/12] perf tests: Skip metrics validation if system-wide recording lacks permission Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:13   ` [PATCH v2 06/12] perf tests: Fix Python JIT dump profiling test failure Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:27     ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  6:13   ` [PATCH v2 07/12] perf tests: Fix flakiness in trace record and replay test Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:27     ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  6:14   ` [PATCH v2 08/12] perf tests: Fix flakiness in BPF counters test on hybrid systems Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:14   ` [PATCH v2 09/12] perf tests: Fix flakiness in branch stack sampling tests Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:14   ` [PATCH v2 10/12] perf tests: Speed up off-cpu profiling tests Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:25     ` sashiko-bot
2026-06-16  6:14   ` [PATCH v2 11/12] perf tests: Speed up lock contention analysis shell test Ian Rogers
2026-06-16  6:14   ` [PATCH v2 12/12] perf tests: Speed up metrics checking shell tests Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48   ` [PATCH v3 00/13] perf tests: Robustness and performance improvements Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 01/13] perf parse-events: Restrict core PMU bypass to --cputype option Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 02/13] perf test: Truncate test description to fit terminal width Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 03/13] perf tests workloads: Support sub-second durations in noploop and thloop Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 04/13] perf tests: Add robust record retry helper and use subsecond workloads Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 05/13] perf tests: Skip metrics validation if system-wide recording lacks permission Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 06/13] perf tests: Fix Python JIT dump profiling test failure Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 07/13] perf tests: Fix flakiness in trace record and replay test Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 08/13] perf tests: Fix flakiness in BPF counters test on hybrid systems Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` Ian Rogers [this message]
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 10/13] perf tests: Speed up off-cpu profiling tests Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 11/13] perf tests: Speed up lock contention analysis shell test Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 12/13] perf tests: Speed up metrics checking shell tests Ian Rogers
2026-06-16 16:48     ` [PATCH v3 13/13] perf tests: Include error output for skipped tests in JUnit XML Ian Rogers

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