Re: [patch, 2.6.10-rc3] safe_hlt() & NMIs

[Ingo Molnar]

* Linus Torvalds <torvalds@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> > find the correct patch below. I've tested it with an NMI watchdog
> > frequency artificially increased to 10 KHz, and i've instrumented the
> > new branch in the NMI handler, but even under heavy IRQ load i was not
> > able to trigger the branch. Maybe newer CPUs handle this case somehow
> > and make sti;hlt truly atomic?
> 
> Now that you mention it, I have this dim memory of the one-instruction
> "sti-shadow" actually disabling NMI's (and debug traps) too. The CPU
> literally doesn't test for async events following "sti". 

i ran the stresstest overnight with the 10 KHz NMI, and not a single
time did the new branch trigger, out of hundreds of millions of IRQs and
NMIs. I think this suggests that the race doesnt exist in current CPUs.

	Ingo
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