[RFC] Strange code in cpu_idle()

[Paul E. McKenney]

Hello!

Strange code in i386, ia64, and x86-64 cpu_idle():

	void cpu_idle (void)
	{
		/* endless idle loop with no priority at all */
		while (1) {
			while (!need_resched()) {
				void (*idle)(void);
				/*
				 * Mark this as an RCU critical section so that
				 * synchronize_kernel() in the unload path waits
				 * for our completion.
				 */
				rcu_read_lock();
				idle = pm_idle;
				if (!idle)
					idle = default_idle;
				idle();
				rcu_read_unlock();
			}
			schedule();
		}
	}

Unless idle_cpu() is busted, it seems like the above is, given the code in
rcu_check_callbacks():

	void rcu_check_callbacks(int cpu, int user)
	{
		if (user || 
		    (idle_cpu(cpu) && !in_softirq() && 
					hardirq_count() <= (1 << HARDIRQ_SHIFT))) {
			rcu_qsctr_inc(cpu);
			rcu_bh_qsctr_inc(cpu);
		} else if (!in_softirq())
			rcu_bh_qsctr_inc(cpu);
		tasklet_schedule(&per_cpu(rcu_tasklet, cpu));
	}

And idle_cpu() is pretty straightforward:

	int idle_cpu(int cpu)
	{
		return cpu_curr(cpu) == cpu_rq(cpu)->idle;
	}

So I would say that the rcu_read_lock() in cpu_idle() is having no
effect, because any timer interrupt from cpu_idle() will mark a
quiescent state notwithstanding.  What am I missing here?

If I am not missing anything, then the attached patch would be in
order here, though there might be some additional work required.
(Though I thought that the try_stop_module() stuff took care of
all of this these days...)

Note that we really, really do want the idle loop to be an extended
quiescent state, otherwise one gets indefinite grace periods and
runs out of memory...

						Thanx, Paul

diff -urpN -X ../dontdiff linux-2.5/arch/i386/kernel/process.c linux-2.5-idle_rcu/arch/i386/kernel/process.c
--- linux-2.5/arch/i386/kernel/process.c	Mon Nov 29 10:47:14 2004
+++ linux-2.5-idle_rcu/arch/i386/kernel/process.c	Sat Dec  4 14:53:37 2004
@@ -144,14 +144,12 @@ void cpu_idle (void)
 {
 	/* endless idle loop with no priority at all */
 	while (1) {
+		/*
+		 * Note that it is illegal to use RCU read-side
+		 * critical sections within the idle loop.
+		 */
 		while (!need_resched()) {
 			void (*idle)(void);
-			/*
-			 * Mark this as an RCU critical section so that
-			 * synchronize_kernel() in the unload path waits
-			 * for our completion.
-			 */
-			rcu_read_lock();
 			idle = pm_idle;
 
 			if (!idle)
@@ -159,7 +157,6 @@ void cpu_idle (void)
 
 			irq_stat[smp_processor_id()].idle_timestamp = jiffies;
 			idle();
-			rcu_read_unlock();
 		}
 		schedule();
 	}
diff -urpN -X ../dontdiff linux-2.5/arch/ia64/kernel/process.c linux-2.5-idle_rcu/arch/ia64/kernel/process.c
--- linux-2.5/arch/ia64/kernel/process.c	Mon Nov 29 10:47:18 2004
+++ linux-2.5-idle_rcu/arch/ia64/kernel/process.c	Sat Dec  4 14:54:30 2004
@@ -230,6 +230,10 @@ cpu_idle (void *unused)
 
 	/* endless idle loop with no priority at all */
 	while (1) {
+		/*
+		 * Note that it is illegal to use RCU read-side
+		 * critical sections within the idle loop.
+		 */
 #ifdef CONFIG_SMP
 		if (!need_resched())
 			min_xtp();
@@ -239,17 +243,10 @@ cpu_idle (void *unused)
 
 			if (mark_idle)
 				(*mark_idle)(1);
-			/*
-			 * Mark this as an RCU critical section so that
-			 * synchronize_kernel() in the unload path waits
-			 * for our completion.
-			 */
-			rcu_read_lock();
 			idle = pm_idle;
 			if (!idle)
 				idle = default_idle;
 			(*idle)();
-			rcu_read_unlock();
 		}
 
 		if (mark_idle)
diff -urpN -X ../dontdiff linux-2.5/arch/x86_64/kernel/process.c linux-2.5-idle_rcu/arch/x86_64/kernel/process.c
--- linux-2.5/arch/x86_64/kernel/process.c	Mon Nov 29 10:48:05 2004
+++ linux-2.5-idle_rcu/arch/x86_64/kernel/process.c	Sat Dec  4 14:55:13 2004
@@ -133,19 +133,16 @@ void cpu_idle (void)
 {
 	/* endless idle loop with no priority at all */
 	while (1) {
+		/*
+		 * Note that it is illegal to use RCU read-side
+		 * critical sections within the idle loop.
+		 */
 		while (!need_resched()) {
 			void (*idle)(void);
-			/*
-			 * Mark this as an RCU critical section so that
-			 * synchronize_kernel() in the unload path waits
-			 * for our completion.
-			 */
-			rcu_read_lock();
 			idle = pm_idle;
 			if (!idle)
 				idle = default_idle;
 			idle();
-			rcu_read_unlock();
 		}
 		schedule();
 	}
-
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