Re: [PATCH 2.6.20.3] Flush writes to MSI-X table

Greg KH
2007-03-24T23:44:27Z

On Sat, Mar 24, 2007 at 04:33:41PM -0700, Kok, Auke wrote:
> Greg KH wrote:
> >On Fri, Mar 23, 2007 at 05:28:02PM -0700, Greg KH wrote:
> >>On Fri, Mar 23, 2007 at 05:24:23PM -0700, Williams, Mitch A wrote:
> >>>Greg KH wrote:
> >>>>Well, I'm sure you can agree that it is _very_ late in the 2.6.21
> >>>>release cycle to expect to get this in for that kernel. How about
> >>>>waiting for 2.6.22 and if it's a big deal, getting it into the
> >>>>2.6.21-stable tree if needed.
> >>>>
> >>>>So far I have not seen any bug reports that this patch would fix, have
> >>>>you?
> >>>Well, I've seen several bug reports on this issue -- but they're all
> >>>internal to Intel.
> >>>
> >>>However, we do have here a real bug, which shows up on real hardware,
> >>>which will be released soon. Obviously, I can't discuss release
> >>>schedules, but "soon" is a good word to use. You might find out more if
> >>>you read The Register (wink, wink).
> >>Ok, but again, as this is something that no one outside of a company can
> >>see, it doesn't really make sense to rush it into the kernel.
> >>
> >>>Given the time frame for release of 2.6.21, I'd be fine with skipping
> >>>2.6.20.x, and putting this in 2.6.21. But we really don't want to wait
> >>>for 2.6.22.
> >>I think it needs to wait, especially given that there is no public
> >>hardware yet.
> >>
> >>I'll add this to my queue.
> >
> >No, nevermind, I'll wait till it hits linux-pci and gets review from the
> >people there, as there are a _ton_ of other pending MSI patches that you
> >will need to be aware of, as they might conflict with this patch.
> >Please see the linux-pci archives for details of them.
>
> Actually Mitch and me have been monitoring those and applying them as they
> came in for the last two months as some of those partially impacted
> (improved) the issue. The read flush to update the msi-x tables is the only
> thing missing right now.

Are you including the 21 set MSI patch that want to linux-pci two days
ago?

I don't understand your need to try to rush an api change like this in
so quickly in an area that has a lot of churn and disagreement lately.
_Especially_ so late in the release cycle, and with no hardware publicly
availble. What is the pressing need here?

thanks,

greg k-h