Re: [PATCH] net: stmmac: Improve Tx timer arm logic further

From: Nazle Asmade, Muhammad Nazim Amirul

Date: Tue May 26 2026 - 01:21:46 EST


On 25/5/2026 9:46 pm, Andrew Lunn wrote:
> On Sun, May 24, 2026 at 11:16:53PM -0700, muhammad.nazim.amirul.nazle.asmade@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>> From: Nazim Amirul <muhammad.nazim.amirul.nazle.asmade@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>
>> Currently hrtimer_start is called even if hrtimer is
>> active. This is unnecessary and expensive in some targets.
>> This patch avoids calling hrtimer_start unnecessarily.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Rohan G Thomas <rohan.g.thomas@xxxxxxxxx>
>> Signed-off-by: Nazim Amirul <muhammad.nazim.amirul.nazle.asmade@xxxxxxxxxx>
>> ---
>> drivers/net/ethernet/stmicro/stmmac/stmmac_main.c | 12 +++++++-----
>> 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/stmicro/stmmac/stmmac_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/stmicro/stmmac/stmmac_main.c
>> index 3591755ea30b..35da51c26248 100644
>> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/stmicro/stmmac/stmmac_main.c
>> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/stmicro/stmmac/stmmac_main.c
>> @@ -3341,12 +3341,14 @@ static void stmmac_tx_timer_arm(struct stmmac_priv *priv, u32 queue)
>> * Try to cancel any timer if napi is scheduled, timer will be armed
>> * again in the next scheduled napi.
>> */
>> - if (unlikely(!napi_is_scheduled(napi)))
>> - hrtimer_start(&tx_q->txtimer,
>> - STMMAC_COAL_TIMER(tx_coal_timer),
>> - HRTIMER_MODE_REL);
>> - else
>> + if (unlikely(!napi_is_scheduled(napi))) {
>> + if (unlikely(!(hrtimer_active(&tx_q->txtimer))))
>> + hrtimer_start(&tx_q->txtimer,
>> + STMMAC_COAL_TIMER(tx_coal_timer),
>> + HRTIMER_MODE_REL);
>
> Is there a race condition here? I've not thought about it enough to
> know if there is/is not.
>
> Also, does this change the meaning of tx_coal_timer?
>
> I think the commit message needs expanding, to cover these issues. For
> performance changes, it is also normal to include some performance
> numbers, before/after, in the commit message.
>
> Andrew
>
> ---
> pw-bot: cr
Hi Maxime, Andrew

Thanks for the quick review! I already send out v2 which applied all the
comments.
https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260526051921.14540-1-muhammad.nazim.amirul.nazle.asmade@xxxxxxxxxx/