Re: [PATCH v1 02/10] mm/khugepaged: remove READ_ONLY_THP_FOR_FS check

Lorenzo Stoakes (Oracle)
2026-03-27T14:12:11Z

On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 09:45:03PM +0800, Baolin Wang wrote:
>
>
> On 3/27/26 8:02 PM, Lorenzo Stoakes (Oracle) wrote:
> > On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 05:44:49PM +0800, Baolin Wang wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > On 3/27/26 9:42 AM, Zi Yan wrote:
> > > > collapse_file() requires FSes supporting large folio with at least
> > > > PMD_ORDER, so replace the READ_ONLY_THP_FOR_FS check with that. shmem with
> > > > huge option turned on also sets large folio order on mapping, so the check
> > > > also applies to shmem.
> > > >
> > > > While at it, replace VM_BUG_ON with returning failure values.
> > > >
> > > > Signed-off-by: Zi Yan <ziy@nvidia.com>
> > > > ---
> > > > mm/khugepaged.c | 7 +++++--
> > > > 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> > > >
> > > > diff --git a/mm/khugepaged.c b/mm/khugepaged.c
> > > > index d06d84219e1b..45b12ffb1550 100644
> > > > --- a/mm/khugepaged.c
> > > > +++ b/mm/khugepaged.c
> > > > @@ -1899,8 +1899,11 @@ static enum scan_result collapse_file(struct mm_struct *mm, unsigned long addr,
> > > > int nr_none = 0;
> > > > bool is_shmem = shmem_file(file);
> > > > - VM_BUG_ON(!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_READ_ONLY_THP_FOR_FS) && !is_shmem);
> > > > - VM_BUG_ON(start & (HPAGE_PMD_NR - 1));
> > > > + /* "huge" shmem sets mapping folio order and passes the check below */
> > > > + if (mapping_max_folio_order(mapping) < PMD_ORDER)
> > > > + return SCAN_FAIL;
> > >
> > > This is not true for anonymous shmem, since its large order allocation logic
> > > is similar to anonymous memory. That means it will not call
> > > mapping_set_large_folios() for anonymous shmem.
> > >
> > > So I think the check should be:
> > >
> > > if (!is_shmem && mapping_max_folio_order(mapping) < PMD_ORDER)
> > > return SCAN_FAIL;
> >
> > Hmm but in shmem_init() we have:
> >
> > #ifdef CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE
> > if (has_transparent_hugepage() && shmem_huge > SHMEM_HUGE_DENY)
> > SHMEM_SB(shm_mnt->mnt_sb)->huge = shmem_huge;
> > else
> > shmem_huge = SHMEM_HUGE_NEVER; /* just in case it was patched */
> >
> > /*
> > * Default to setting PMD-sized THP to inherit the global setting and
> > * disable all other multi-size THPs.
> > */
> > if (!shmem_orders_configured)
> > huge_shmem_orders_inherit = BIT(HPAGE_PMD_ORDER);
> > #endif
> >
> > And shm_mnt->mnt_sb is the superblock used for anon shmem. Also
> > shmem_enabled_store() updates that if necessary.
> >
> > So we're still fine right?
> >
> > __shmem_file_setup() (used for anon shmem) calls shmem_get_inode() ->
> > __shmem_get_inode() which has:
> >
> > if (sbinfo->huge)
> > mapping_set_large_folios(inode->i_mapping);
> >
> > Shared for both anon shmem and tmpfs-style shmem.
> >
> > So I think it's fine as-is.
>
> I'm afraid not. Sorry, I should have been clearer.
>
> First, anonymous shmem large order allocation is dynamically controlled via
> the global interface (/sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/shmem_enabled) and
> the mTHP interfaces
> (/sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/hugepages-*kB/shmem_enabled).
>
> This means that during anonymous shmem initialization, these interfaces
> might be set to 'never'. so it will not call mapping_set_large_folios()
> because sbinfo->huge is 'SHMEM_HUGE_NEVER'.
>
> Even if shmem large order allocation is subsequently enabled via the
> interfaces, __shmem_file_setup -> mapping_set_large_folios() is not called
> again.

I see your point, oh this is all a bit of a mess...

It feels like entirely the wrong abstraction anyway, since at best you're
getting a global 'is enabled'.

I guess what happened before was we'd never call into this with ! r/o thp for fs
&& ! is_shmem.

But now we are allowing it, but should STILL be gating on !is_shmem so yeah your
suggestion is correct I think actualyl.

I do hate:

if (!is_shmem && mapping_max_folio_order(mapping) < PMD_ORDER)

As a bit of code though. It's horrible.

Let's abstract that...

It'd be nice if we could find a way to clean things up in the lead up to changes
in series like this instead of sticking with the mess, but I guess since it
mostly removes stuff that's ok for now.

>
> Anonymous shmem behaves similarly to anonymous pages: it is controlled by
> the 'shmem_enabled' interfaces and uses shmem_allowable_huge_orders() to
> check for allowed large orders, rather than relying on
> mapping_max_folio_order().
>
> The mapping_max_folio_order() is intended to control large page allocation
> only for tmpfs mounts. Therefore, I find the current code confusing and
> think it needs to be fixed:
>
> /* Don't consider 'deny' for emergencies and 'force' for testing */
> if (sb != shm_mnt->mnt_sb && sbinfo->huge)
> mapping_set_large_folios(inode->i_mapping);

Cheers, Lorenzo