From: "Scott J. Goldman" <scottjgo@gmail.com>
To: qemu-devel@nongnu.org
Cc: qemu-arm@nongnu.org, rbolshakov@ddn.com, phil@philjordan.eu,
agraf@csgraf.de, peter.maydell@linaro.org,
"Scott J. Goldman" <scottjgo@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH] target/arm/hvf: Fix WFI halting to stop idle vCPU spinning
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 2026 21:47:26 -0700 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260410044726.61853-1-scottjgo@gmail.com> (raw)
Commit b5f8f77271 ("accel/hvf: Implement WFI without using pselect()")
changed hvf_wfi() from blocking the vCPU thread with pselect() to
returning EXCP_HLT, intending QEMU's main event loop to handle the
idle wait. However, cpu->halted was never set, so cpu_thread_is_idle()
always returns false and the vCPU thread spins at 100% CPU per core
while the guest is idle.
Fix this by:
1. Setting cpu->halted = 1 in hvf_wfi() so the vCPU thread sleeps on
halt_cond in qemu_process_cpu_events().
2. Arming a host-side QEMU_CLOCK_HOST timer to fire when the guest's
virtual timer (CNTV_CVAL_EL0) would expire. This is necessary
because HVF only delivers HV_EXIT_REASON_VTIMER_ACTIVATED during
hv_vcpu_run(), which is not called while the CPU is halted. The
timer callback mirrors the VTIMER_ACTIVATED handler: it raises the
vtimer IRQ through the GIC and marks vtimer_masked, causing the
interrupt delivery chain to wake the vCPU via qemu_cpu_kick().
3. Clearing cpu->halted in hvf_arch_vcpu_exec() when cpu_has_work()
indicates a pending interrupt, and cancelling the WFI timer.
Fixes: b5f8f77271 ("accel/hvf: Implement WFI without using pselect()")
Resolves: https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/issues/959
Signed-off-by: Scott J. Goldman <scottjgo@gmail.com>
---
include/system/hvf_int.h | 1 +
target/arm/hvf/hvf.c | 65 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
2 files changed, 65 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/include/system/hvf_int.h b/include/system/hvf_int.h
index 2621164cb2..58fb865eba 100644
--- a/include/system/hvf_int.h
+++ b/include/system/hvf_int.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ struct AccelCPUState {
hv_vcpu_exit_t *exit;
bool vtimer_masked;
bool guest_debug_enabled;
+ struct QEMUTimer *wfi_timer;
#endif
};
diff --git a/target/arm/hvf/hvf.c b/target/arm/hvf/hvf.c
index 5fc8f6bbbd..0e737d3583 100644
--- a/target/arm/hvf/hvf.c
+++ b/target/arm/hvf/hvf.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
#include "hw/core/boards.h"
#include "hw/core/irq.h"
#include "qemu/main-loop.h"
+#include "qemu/timer.h"
#include "system/cpus.h"
#include "arm-powerctl.h"
#include "target/arm/cpu.h"
@@ -301,6 +302,8 @@ void hvf_arm_init_debug(void)
#define TMR_CTL_IMASK (1 << 1)
#define TMR_CTL_ISTATUS (1 << 2)
+static void hvf_wfi_timer_cb(void *opaque);
+
static uint32_t chosen_ipa_bit_size;
typedef struct HVFVTimer {
@@ -1214,6 +1217,9 @@ void hvf_arch_vcpu_destroy(CPUState *cpu)
{
hv_return_t ret;
+ timer_free(cpu->accel->wfi_timer);
+ cpu->accel->wfi_timer = NULL;
+
ret = hv_vcpu_destroy(cpu->accel->fd);
assert_hvf_ok(ret);
}
@@ -1352,6 +1358,9 @@ int hvf_arch_init_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
arm_cpu->isar.idregs[ID_AA64MMFR0_EL1_IDX]);
assert_hvf_ok(ret);
+ cpu->accel->wfi_timer = timer_new_ns(QEMU_CLOCK_HOST,
+ hvf_wfi_timer_cb, cpu);
+
aarch64_add_sme_properties(OBJECT(cpu));
return 0;
}
@@ -2027,8 +2036,29 @@ static uint64_t hvf_vtimer_val_raw(void)
return mach_absolute_time() - hvf_state->vtimer_offset;
}
+static void hvf_wfi_timer_cb(void *opaque)
+{
+ CPUState *cpu = opaque;
+ ARMCPU *arm_cpu = ARM_CPU(cpu);
+
+ /*
+ * vtimer expired while the CPU was halted for WFI.
+ * Mirror HV_EXIT_REASON_VTIMER_ACTIVATED: raise the vtimer
+ * interrupt and mark as masked so hvf_sync_vtimer() will
+ * check and unmask when the guest handles it.
+ *
+ * The interrupt delivery chain (GIC -> cpu_interrupt ->
+ * qemu_cpu_kick) wakes the vCPU thread from halt_cond.
+ */
+ qemu_set_irq(arm_cpu->gt_timer_outputs[GTIMER_VIRT], 1);
+ cpu->accel->vtimer_masked = true;
+}
+
static int hvf_wfi(CPUState *cpu)
{
+ uint64_t ctl, cval;
+ hv_return_t r;
+
if (cpu_has_work(cpu)) {
/*
* Don't bother to go into our "low power state" if
@@ -2037,6 +2067,35 @@ static int hvf_wfi(CPUState *cpu)
return 0;
}
+ /*
+ * Set up a host-side timer to wake us when the vtimer expires.
+ * HVF only delivers HV_EXIT_REASON_VTIMER_ACTIVATED during
+ * hv_vcpu_run(), which we won't call while halted.
+ */
+ r = hv_vcpu_get_sys_reg(cpu->accel->fd, HV_SYS_REG_CNTV_CTL_EL0, &ctl);
+ assert_hvf_ok(r);
+
+ if ((ctl & TMR_CTL_ENABLE) && !(ctl & TMR_CTL_IMASK)) {
+ r = hv_vcpu_get_sys_reg(cpu->accel->fd,
+ HV_SYS_REG_CNTV_CVAL_EL0, &cval);
+ assert_hvf_ok(r);
+
+ uint64_t now = hvf_vtimer_val_raw();
+ if (cval <= now) {
+ /* Timer already expired, don't halt */
+ return 0;
+ }
+
+ uint64_t delta_ticks = cval - now;
+ mach_timebase_info_data_t timebase;
+ mach_timebase_info(&timebase);
+ int64_t delta_ns = delta_ticks * timebase.numer / timebase.denom;
+ int64_t deadline = qemu_clock_get_ns(QEMU_CLOCK_HOST) + delta_ns;
+
+ timer_mod(cpu->accel->wfi_timer, deadline);
+ }
+
+ cpu->halted = 1;
return EXCP_HLT;
}
@@ -2332,7 +2391,11 @@ int hvf_arch_vcpu_exec(CPUState *cpu)
hv_return_t r;
if (cpu->halted) {
- return EXCP_HLT;
+ if (!cpu_has_work(cpu)) {
+ return EXCP_HLT;
+ }
+ cpu->halted = 0;
+ timer_del(cpu->accel->wfi_timer);
}
flush_cpu_state(cpu);
--
2.50.1 (Apple Git-155)
next reply other threads:[~2026-04-10 6:43 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 5+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-04-10 4:47 Scott J. Goldman [this message]
2026-04-10 5:06 ` [PATCH] target/arm/hvf: Fix WFI halting to stop idle vCPU spinning Mohamed Mediouni
2026-04-10 5:28 ` Scott J. Goldman
2026-04-10 5:50 ` [PATCH v2] " Scott J. Goldman
2026-04-10 6:18 ` Mohamed Mediouni
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