Re: [PATCH 1/2] arm64: Relax constraints on ID feature bits

[Suzuki K Poulose]

On 07/02/18 12:34, Dave Martin wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 07, 2018 at 11:41:17AM +0000, Suzuki K Poulose wrote:
> > On 07/02/18 10:40, Dave Martin wrote:

...

> > To summarise, I can add LOR/HPD changes. But the others requires a bit more
> > work and can be done as a separate series.
> >
> > > I've wondered in the past whether there is redundancy between the strict
> > > and type fields, but when adding entries I just copy-pasted similar ones
> > > rather than fully understanding what was going on...
> >
> > I agree. These were defined before we started using the system wide safe
> > values and enforcing the capabilities on late/secondary CPUs. Now that
> > we have an infrastructure which makes sure that conflicts are handled,
> > we could relax the definitions a bit.
>
> OK, I this sounds reasonable and I think it all falls under "potential
> future cleanups".
>
> A few nits below.
>
> [...]
>
> > > > diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c b/arch/arm64/kernel/cpufeature.c
>
> [...]
>
> > > > -	ARM64_FTR_BITS(FTR_HIDDEN, FTR_STRICT, FTR_LOWER_SAFE, ID_AA64MMFR0_ASID_SHIFT, 4, 0),
> > > > +	/* We handle differing ASID widths by explicit checks to make sure the system is safe */
>
> Where is this checked?  Because of the risk of breaking this
> relationship during maintenance, perhaps we should have a comment in
> both places.

This is checked via verify_cpu_asid_bits() from check_early_cpu_features(), on all
secondary CPUs. I will mention it in the comment.

> > > > -	ARM64_FTR_BITS(FTR_HIDDEN, FTR_STRICT, FTR_LOWER_SAFE, ID_AA64MMFR1_VHE_SHIFT, 4, 0),
> > > > +	/* When CONFIG_ARM64_VHE is enabled, we ensure that there is no conflict */
>
> Similarly to _ASID, where/how?

This is done via verify_cpu_run_el() from check_early_cpu_features(). But with the rewrite
of the capabilities frame work, we move it to the capabilities infrastructure BOOT_CPU features.

> > > >   static const struct arm64_ftr_bits ftr_id_aa64mmfr2[] = {
> > > >   	ARM64_FTR_BITS(FTR_HIDDEN, FTR_STRICT, FTR_LOWER_SAFE, ID_AA64MMFR2_LVA_SHIFT, 4, 0),
> > > > -	ARM64_FTR_BITS(FTR_HIDDEN, FTR_STRICT, FTR_LOWER_SAFE, ID_AA64MMFR2_IESB_SHIFT, 4, 0),
> > > > +	/* While IESB is good to have, it is not fatal if we miss this on some CPUs */
>
> Maybe this deserves slightly more explanation.  We could say that
> lacking implicit IESB on exception boundary on a subset of CPUs is no
> worse than lacking it on all of them.

OK.

Cheers
Suzuki