this is the patch i picked up:
-------------------------->
Subject: rcu: fix hotplug vs rcu race
From: Gautham R Shenoy <ego@in.ibm.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:17:38 +0530
Dhaval Giani reported this warning during cpu hotplug stress-tests:
| On running kernel compiles in parallel with cpu hotplug:
|
| WARNING: at arch/x86/kernel/smp.c:118
| native_smp_send_reschedule+0x21/0x36()
| Modules linked in:
| Pid: 27483, comm: cc1 Not tainted 2.6.26-rc7 #1
| [...]
| [<c0110355>] native_smp_send_reschedule+0x21/0x36
| [<c014fe8f>] force_quiescent_state+0x47/0x57
| [<c014fef0>] call_rcu+0x51/0x6d
| [<c01713b3>] __fput+0x130/0x158
| [<c0171231>] fput+0x17/0x19
| [<c016fd99>] filp_close+0x4d/0x57
| [<c016fdff>] sys_close+0x5c/0x97
IMHO the warning is a spurious one.
cpu_online_map is updated by the _cpu_down() using stop_machine_run().
Since force_quiescent_state is invoked from irqs disabled section,
stop_machine_run() won't be executing while a cpu is executing
force_quiescent_state(). Hence the cpu_online_map is stable while we're
in the irq disabled section.
However, a cpu might have been offlined _just_ before we disabled irqs
while entering force_quiescent_state(). And rcu subsystem might not yet
have handled the CPU_DEAD notification, leading to the offlined cpu's
bit being set in the rcp->cpumask.
Hence cpumask = (rcp->cpumask & cpu_online_map) to prevent sending
smp_reschedule() to an offlined CPU.
Here's the timeline:
CPU_A CPU_B
--------------------------------------------------------------
cpu_down(): .
. .
. .
stop_machine(): /* disables preemption, .
* and irqs */ .
. .
. .
take_cpu_down(); .
. .
. .
. .
cpu_disable(); /*this removes cpu .
*from cpu_online_map .
*/ .
. .
. .
restart_machine(); /* enables irqs */ .
------WINDOW DURING WHICH rcp->cpumask is stale ---------------
. call_rcu();
. /* disables irqs here */
. .force_quiescent_state();
.CPU_DEAD: .for_each_cpu(rcp->cpumask)
. . smp_send_reschedule();
. .
. . WARN_ON() for offlined CPU!
--
