Re: [PATCH 0/2] Kexec jump: The first step to kexec base hibernation

[Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>]

On Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:30:31 +0000
"Huang, Ying" <ying.huang@intel.com> wrote:

> Kexec base hibernation has some potential advantages over uswsusp and
> suspend2. Some most obvious advantages are:
> 
> 1. The hibernation image size can exceed half of memory size easily.
> 2. The hibernation image can be written to and read from almost
>    anywhere, such as USB disk, NFS.
> 
> This patch implements the functionality of "jumping from kexeced
> kernel to original kernel". That is, the following sequence is
> possible:
> 
> 1. Boot a kernel A
> 2. Work under kernel A
> 3. Kexec another kernel B in kernel A
> 4. Work under kernel B
> 5. Jump from kernel B to kernel A
> 6. Continue work under kernel A
> 
> This is the first step to implement kexec based hibernation. If the
> memory image of kernel A is written to or read from a permanent media
> in step 4, a preliminary version of kexec based hibernation can be
> implemented.
> 
> The kernel B is run as a crashdump kernel in reserved memory
> region. This is the biggest constrains of the patch. It is planed to
> be eliminated in the next version. That is, instead of reserving memory
> region previously, the needed memory region is backuped before kexec
> and restored after jumping back.
> 
> Another constrains of the patch is that the CONFIG_ACPI must be turned
> off to make kexec jump work. Because ACPI will put devices into low
> power state, the kexeced kernel can not be booted properly under
> it. This constrains can be eliminated by separating the suspend method
> and hibernation method of the devices as proposed earlier in the LKML.
> 
> The kexec jump is implemented in the framework of software suspend. In
> fact, the kexec based hibernation can be seen as just implementing the
> image writing and reading method of software suspend with a kexeced
> Linux kernel.
> 
> Now, only the i386 architecture is supported. The patch is based on
> Linux kernel 2.6.22, and has been tested on my IBM T42.

This sounds awesome.  Am I correct in expecting that ultimately the
existing hibernation implementation just goes away and we reuse (and hence
strengthen) the existing kexec (and kdump?) infrastructure?

And that we get hibernation support almost for free on all kexec (and
relocatable-kernel?) capable architectures?

And that all the management of hibernation and resume happens in userspace?

I didn't understand the ACPI problem.  Does this mean that CONFIG_ACPI must
be disabled in the to-be-hibernated kernel, or in the little transient
kexec kernel?

How close do you think all this is to being a viable thing?