Re: [PATCH] sound_core.c: Remove BKL from soundcore_open
From: Alan Cox
Date: Sun Oct 11 2009 - 16:53:34 EST
> > It won't. Instead you get situations like one ioctl blocking another
> > to an unrelated device that just causes weird failures and performance
> > problems, or in some cases deadlocks.
>
> yes the bkl using code will be slower because it'll now hit contention.
No - the mutex using ioctls that sleep now block each other out - this
mistake was made in some video drivers.
> > Open routines block so it takes about 5 seconds of thought to realise
> > that using a mutex here is brain dead and doesn't work.
>
> it also takes 5 seconds to realize "uh oh. they block. BKL is rather
> limited in what it provides".
Which is what the code was written for.
This is why you can't just slap in a mutex but have to push it down.
Chances are that for a lot of small drivers you go
lock_kernel
foo->op()
unlock_kernel
to
foo->op()
op()
lock_kernel
blah
unlock_kernel
correctly on to
op()
{
mutex_lock(instance->lock);
blah
mutex_unlock(instance->lock);
but you can't jump those steps and hope to get it right.
Alan
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