Re: [PATCH 2/2] perf tools: Improve IBS error handling

Kim Phillips
2021-10-07T19:17:37Z

On 10/7/21 12:28 PM, Jiri Olsa wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 04, 2021 at 04:41:14PM -0500, Kim Phillips wrote:
>> ---
>> tools/perf/util/evsel.c | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
>> 1 file changed, 24 insertions(+)
>>
>> diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
>> index b915840690d4..f8a9cbd99314 100644
>> --- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
>> +++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
>> @@ -2743,9 +2743,22 @@ static bool find_process(const char *name)
>> return ret ? false : true;
>> }
>>
>> +static bool is_amd(const char *arch, const char *cpuid)
>> +{
>> + return arch && !strcmp("x86", arch) && cpuid && strstarts(cpuid, "AuthenticAMD");
>> +}
>> +
>> +static bool is_amd_ibs(struct evsel *evsel)
>> +{
>> + return evsel->core.attr.precise_ip || !strncmp(evsel->pmu_name, "ibs", 3);
>> +}
>> +
>> int evsel__open_strerror(struct evsel *evsel, struct target *target,
>> int err, char *msg, size_t size)
>> {
>> + struct perf_env *env = evsel__env(evsel);
>> + const char *arch = perf_env__arch(env);
>> + const char *cpuid = perf_env__cpuid(env);
>> char sbuf[STRERR_BUFSIZE];
>> int printed = 0, enforced = 0;
>>
>> @@ -2841,6 +2854,17 @@ int evsel__open_strerror(struct evsel *evsel, struct target *target,
>> return scnprintf(msg, size, "wrong clockid (%d).", clockid);
>> if (perf_missing_features.aux_output)
>> return scnprintf(msg, size, "The 'aux_output' feature is not supported, update the kernel.");
>> + if (is_amd(arch, cpuid)) {
>> + if (is_amd_ibs(evsel)) {
>
> would single 'is_amd_ibs' call be better? checking on both amd and ibs

Good suggestion. If you look at the later patch in the
BRS series, I have rewritten it to add the new
AMD PMU like so:

if (is_amd()) {
if (is_amd_ibs()) {
if (evsel->this)
return
if (evsel->that)
return
}
+ if (is_amd_brs()) {
+ if (evsel->this)
+ return
+ if (evsel->that)
+ return
+ }
}

Below is the full proposed replacement patch for patch 12
of 13 of the BRS series.

Another option is to have the is_amd_{ibs,brs} functions
call is_amd() themselves, so the if (evsel->) code could be
unindented by one tab, would that be better?

Thanks,

Kim

From a4cbab762719b30bddec2e278cf8b8eb82e83865 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Stephane Eranian <eranian@google.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2021 00:56:59 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] perf tools: Improve error handling of AMD Branch Sampling

This patch improves the error message printed by perf when
perf_event_open() fails on AMD Zen3 when using the branch sampling
feature. In the case of EINVAL, there are two main reasons: frequency
mode or period is smaller than the depth of the branch sampling
buffer (16). The patch checks the parameters of the call and tries
to print a relevant message to explain the error:

$ perf record -b -e cpu/branch-brs/ -c 10 ls
Error:
AMD Branch Sampling does not support sampling period smaller than what is reported in /sys/devices/cpu/caps/branches.

$ perf record -b -e cpu/branch-brs/ ls
Error:
AMD Branch Sampling does not support frequency mode sampling, must pass a fixed sampling period via -c option or cpu/branch-brs,period=xxxx/.

Signed-off-by: Stephane Eranian <eranian@google.com>
[Rebased on commit 9fe8895a27a84 ("perf env: Add perf_env__cpuid, perf_env__{nr_}pmu_mappings")]
Signed-off-by: Kim Phillips <kim.phillips@amd.com>
---
tools/perf/util/evsel.c | 14 ++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 14 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index f8a9cbd99314..e1f5eff07355 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -2753,6 +2753,12 @@ static bool is_amd_ibs(struct evsel *evsel)
return evsel->core.attr.precise_ip || !strncmp(evsel->pmu_name, "ibs", 3);
}

+static bool is_amd_brs(struct evsel *evsel)
+{
+ return ((evsel->core.attr.config & 0xff) == 0xc4) &&
+ (evsel->core.attr.sample_type & PERF_SAMPLE_BRANCH_STACK);
+}
+
int evsel__open_strerror(struct evsel *evsel, struct target *target,
int err, char *msg, size_t size)
{
@@ -2863,6 +2869,14 @@ int evsel__open_strerror(struct evsel *evsel, struct target *target,
return scnprintf(msg, size,
"AMD IBS may only be available in system-wide/per-cpu mode. Try using -a, or -C and workload affinity");
}
+ if (is_amd_brs(evsel)) {
+ if (evsel->core.attr.freq)
+ return scnprintf(msg, size,
+ "AMD Branch Sampling does not support frequency mode sampling, must pass a fixed sampling period via -c option or cpu/branch-brs,period=xxxx/.");
+ /* another reason is that the period is too small */
+ return scnprintf(msg, size,
+ "AMD Branch Sampling does not support sampling period smaller than what is reported in /sys/devices/cpu/caps/branches.");
+ }
}

break;
--
2.31.1