[PATCH 2/4] fat: return only first cluster when allocating

From: Matheus Alves de Almeida

Date: Wed Oct 07 2026 - 22:11:58 EST


fat_alloc_clusters() returns every allocated cluster number in an array.
For larger allocations, like growing a file, this array would need to be
very large.

Make fat_alloc_clusters() return only the first allocated cluster in the
chain. Update fat_add_new_entries() to follow the chain when it needs
the second cluster.

Signed-off-by: Matheus Alves de Almeida <matheus.aalmeida@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/fat/dir.c | 20 +++++++++++++++++++-
fs/fat/fat.h | 2 +-
fs/fat/fatent.c | 17 +++++++++--------
3 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/fs/fat/dir.c b/fs/fat/dir.c
index 35bdb6294..672d5e392 100644
--- a/fs/fat/dir.c
+++ b/fs/fat/dir.c
@@ -1245,6 +1245,7 @@ static int fat_add_new_entries(struct inode *dir, void *slots, int nr_slots,
sector_t blknr, start_blknr, last_blknr;
unsigned long size, copy;
int err, i, n, offset, cluster[2];
+ struct fat_entry fatent;

/*
* The minimum cluster size is 512bytes, and maximum entry
@@ -1255,10 +1256,26 @@ static int fat_add_new_entries(struct inode *dir, void *slots, int nr_slots,
*nr_cluster = (size + (sbi->cluster_size - 1)) >> sbi->cluster_bits;
BUG_ON(*nr_cluster > 2);

- err = fat_alloc_clusters(dir, cluster, *nr_cluster);
+ err = fat_alloc_clusters(dir, &cluster[0], *nr_cluster);
if (err)
goto error;

+ if (*nr_cluster > 1) {
+ fatent_init(&fatent);
+ cluster[1] = fat_ent_read(dir, &fatent, cluster[0]);
+ fatent_brelse(&fatent);
+ if (cluster[1] == FAT_ENT_EOF || cluster[1] == FAT_ENT_FREE) {
+ fat_fs_error(sb,
+ "%s: invalid cluster chain (i_pos %lld)",
+ __func__, MSDOS_I(dir)->i_pos);
+ cluster[1] = -EIO;
+ }
+ if (cluster[1] < 0) {
+ err = cluster[1];
+ goto error_ent;
+ }
+ }
+
/*
* First stage: Fill the directory entry. NOTE: This cluster
* is not referenced from any inode yet, so updates order is
@@ -1313,6 +1330,7 @@ static int fat_add_new_entries(struct inode *dir, void *slots, int nr_slots,
error_nomem:
for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
bforget(bhs[i]);
+error_ent:
fat_free_clusters(dir, cluster[0]);
error:
return err;
diff --git a/fs/fat/fat.h b/fs/fat/fat.h
index 61338413d..75ac0239a 100644
--- a/fs/fat/fat.h
+++ b/fs/fat/fat.h
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ extern int fat_ent_read(struct inode *inode, struct fat_entry *fatent,
int entry);
extern int fat_ent_write(struct inode *inode, struct fat_entry *fatent,
int new, int wait);
-extern int fat_alloc_clusters(struct inode *inode, int *cluster,
+extern int fat_alloc_clusters(struct inode *inode, int *first_cluster,
int nr_cluster);
extern int fat_free_clusters(struct inode *inode, int cluster);
extern int fat_count_free_clusters(struct super_block *sb);
diff --git a/fs/fat/fatent.c b/fs/fat/fatent.c
index bfab8eab5..4970b1f14 100644
--- a/fs/fat/fatent.c
+++ b/fs/fat/fatent.c
@@ -488,14 +488,14 @@ static int fat_flush_bhs(struct super_block *sb, struct buffer_head **bhs,
return 0;
}

-int fat_alloc_clusters(struct inode *inode, int *cluster, int nr_cluster)
+int fat_alloc_clusters(struct inode *inode, int *first_cluster, int nr_cluster)
{
struct super_block *sb = inode->i_sb;
struct msdos_sb_info *sbi = MSDOS_SB(sb);
const struct fatent_operations *ops = sbi->fatent_ops;
struct fat_entry fatent, prev_ent;
struct buffer_head *bhs[MAX_BUF_PER_PAGE];
- int i, count, err, nr_bhs, idx_clus;
+ int i, count, err, nr_bhs, clusters_done;

lock_fat(sbi);
if (sbi->free_clusters != -1 && sbi->free_clus_valid &&
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ int fat_alloc_clusters(struct inode *inode, int *cluster, int nr_cluster)
return -ENOSPC;
}

- err = nr_bhs = idx_clus = 0;
+ err = nr_bhs = clusters_done = 0;
count = FAT_START_ENT;
fatent_init(&prev_ent);
fatent_init(&fatent);
@@ -531,8 +531,9 @@ int fat_alloc_clusters(struct inode *inode, int *cluster, int nr_cluster)
if (sbi->free_clusters != -1)
sbi->free_clusters--;

- cluster[idx_clus] = entry;
- idx_clus++;
+ if (!clusters_done)
+ *first_cluster = entry;
+ clusters_done++;

if (nr_bhs + fatent.nr_bhs > MAX_BUF_PER_PAGE) {
err = fat_flush_bhs(sb, bhs, &nr_bhs,
@@ -542,7 +543,7 @@ int fat_alloc_clusters(struct inode *inode, int *cluster, int nr_cluster)
}
fat_collect_bhs(bhs, &nr_bhs, &fatent);

- if (idx_clus == nr_cluster)
+ if (clusters_done == nr_cluster)
goto out;

/*
@@ -575,8 +576,8 @@ int fat_alloc_clusters(struct inode *inode, int *cluster, int nr_cluster)
for (i = 0; i < nr_bhs; i++)
brelse(bhs[i]);

- if (err && idx_clus)
- fat_free_clusters(inode, cluster[0]);
+ if (err && clusters_done)
+ fat_free_clusters(inode, *first_cluster);

return err;
}
--
2.43.0