[PATCH 0/2] Fixes for smp_num_siblings calculation

From: Prarit Bhargava
Date: Fri Jun 20 2014 - 13:28:51 EST


I have a system on which I have disabled threading in the BIOS, and I am booting
the kernel with the option "idle=poll".

The kernel displays

process: WARNING: polling idle and HT enabled, performance may degrade

which is incorrect -- I've already disabled HT.

This warning is issued here:

void select_idle_routine(const struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
{
if (boot_option_idle_override == IDLE_POLL && smp_num_siblings > 1)
pr_warn_once("WARNING: polling idle and HT enabled, performance may degrade\n");

>From my understanding of the other areas of kernel that use smp_num_siblings,
the value is supposed to be the actual number of threads per core, and
this value of smp_num_siblings is incorrect. In theory, it should be 1 but it
is reported as 2. When I looked into how smp_num_siblings is calculated I
found the following call sequence in the kernel:

start_kernel ->
check_bugs ->
identify_boot_cpu ->
identify_cpu ->
c_init = init_intel
init_intel ->
detect_extended_topology
(sets value)

OR

c_init = init_amd
init_amd -> amd_detect_cmp
-> amd_get_topology
(sets value)
-> detect_ht()
... (sets value)
detect_ht()
(also sets value)

ie) it is confusing to figure out where smp_num_siblings is set, and AFAICT,
it is set to the "factory reported" value.

This patchset sets smp_num_siblings to the expected value of the actual number
of siblings each core has. The 2/2 patchset, disables the "ht" flag if
each core has only one sibling.

Cc: Oren Twaig <oren@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: x86@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: Borislav Petkov <bp@xxxxxxx>
Cc: Paul Gortmaker <paul.gortmaker@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Andrew Morton <akpm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Andi Kleen <ak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Dave Jones <davej@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Torsten Kaiser <just.for.lkml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Jan Beulich <JBeulich@xxxxxxxx>
Cc: Jan Kiszka <jan.kiszka@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Toshi Kani <toshi.kani@xxxxxx>
Cc: Andrew Jones <drjones@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Prarit Bhargava <prarit@xxxxxxxxxx>

Prarit Bhargava (2):
x86, Clean up smp_num_siblings calculation
x86, disable ht flag when hyperthreading is disabled

arch/x86/kernel/cpu/amd.c | 1 -
arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c | 23 +++++++++++------------
arch/x86/kernel/cpu/topology.c | 2 +-
arch/x86/kernel/smpboot.c | 14 +++++++++++---
4 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 17 deletions(-)

--
1.7.9.3

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