Re: [PATCH v4 1/3] x86: Handle idle=nomwait cmdline properly for x86_idle

Zhang Rui
2022-05-25T08:06:43Z

On Mon, 2022-05-23 at 22:25 +0530, Wyes Karny wrote:
> When kernel is booted with idle=nomwait do not use MWAIT as the
> default idle state.
>
> If the user boots the kernel with idle=nomwait, it is a clear
> direction to not use mwait as the default idle state.
> However, the current code does not take this into consideration
> while selecting the default idle state on x86.
>
> This patch fixes it by checking for the idle=nomwait boot option in
> prefer_mwait_c1_over_halt().
>
> Also update the documentation around idle=nomwait appropriately.
>
> Signed-off-by: Wyes Karny <wyes.karny@amd.com>
> ---
> Changes in v4:
> - Update documentation around idle=nomwait
> - Rename patch subject
>
> Documentation/admin-guide/pm/cpuidle.rst | 15 +++++++++------
> arch/x86/kernel/process.c | 6 +++++-
> 2 files changed, 14 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/pm/cpuidle.rst
> b/Documentation/admin-guide/pm/cpuidle.rst
> index aec2cd2aaea7..19754beb5a4e 100644
> --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/pm/cpuidle.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/pm/cpuidle.rst
> @@ -612,8 +612,8 @@ the ``menu`` governor to be used on the systems
> that use the ``ladder`` governor
> by default this way, for example.
>
> The other kernel command line parameters controlling CPU idle time
> management
> -described below are only relevant for the *x86* architecture and
> some of
> -them affect Intel processors only.
> +described below are only relevant for the *x86* architecture and
> references
> +to ``intel_idle`` affect Intel processors only.
>
> The *x86* architecture support code recognizes three kernel command
> line
> options related to CPU idle time management: ``idle=poll``,
> ``idle=halt``,
> @@ -635,10 +635,13 @@ idle, so it very well may hurt single-thread
> computations performance as well as
> energy-efficiency. Thus using it for performance reasons may not be
> a good idea
> at all.]
>
> -The ``idle=nomwait`` option disables the ``intel_idle`` driver and
> causes
> -``acpi_idle`` to be used (as long as all of the information needed
> by it is
> -there in the system's ACPI tables), but it is not allowed to use the
> -``MWAIT`` instruction of the CPUs to ask the hardware to enter idle
> states.
> +The ``idle=nomwait`` option prevents the use of ``MWAIT``
> instruction of
> +the CPU to enter idle states. When this option is used, the
> ``acpi_idle``
> +driver will use the ``HLT`` instruction instead of ``MWAIT``. On
> systems
> +running Intel processors, this option disables the ``intel_idle``
> driver
> +and forces the use of the ``acpi_idle`` driver instead. Note that in
> either
> +case, ``acpi_idle`` driver will function only if all the information
> needed
> +by it is in the system's ACPI tables.
>
> In addition to the architecture-level kernel command line options
> affecting CPU
> idle time management, there are parameters affecting individual
> ``CPUIdle``
> diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/process.c b/arch/x86/kernel/process.c
> index b370767f5b19..4e0178b066c5 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/kernel/process.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/kernel/process.c
> @@ -824,6 +824,10 @@ static void amd_e400_idle(void)
> */
> static int prefer_mwait_c1_over_halt(const struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
> {
> + /* User has disallowed the use of MWAIT. Fallback to HALT */
> + if (boot_option_idle_override == IDLE_NOMWAIT)
> + return 0;
> +
> if (c->x86_vendor != X86_VENDOR_INTEL)
> return 0;
>
> @@ -932,7 +936,7 @@ static int __init idle_setup(char *str)
> } else if (!strcmp(str, "nomwait")) {
> /*
> * If the boot option of "idle=nomwait" is added,
> - * it means that mwait will be disabled for CPU C2/C3
> + * it means that mwait will be disabled for CPU
> C1/C2/C3
> * states. In such case it won't touch the variable
> * of boot_option_idle_override.

the code didn't change boot_option_idle_override when it was
introduced, but this has changed since commit d18960494f65 ("ACPI,
intel_idle: Cleanup idle= internal variables")

thanks,
rui