Re: [RFC PATCH 1/7] serial: Emulate break using control characters

[Peter Hurley]

[ + linux-serial ]

Hi Daniel,

I apologize for not reviewing this back in Sept when you first
RFC'd this patch.


On 03/18/2015 10:20 AM, Daniel Thompson wrote:
> Currently the magic SysRq functions can accessed by sending a break on
> the serial port. Unfortunately some networked serial proxies make it
> difficult to send a break meaning SysRq functions cannot be used. This
> patch provides a workaround by allowing the (fairly unlikely) sequence
> of ^B^R^K characters to emulate a real break.

I really feel that support for this belongs in the terminal server;
terminal servers designed to be console servers already provide this
functionality.

That said, my review comments are below in case others feel differently.

> This approach is very nearly as robust as normal sysrq/break handling
> because all trigger recognition happens during interrupt handling. Only
> major difference is that to emulate a break we must enter the ISR four
> times (instead of twice) and manage an extra byte of state.

It may not be immediately obvious to others that this means that portions
of the sequence are not processed as input until the sequence is not matched.

So, ^B is not available for reading at the tty until the next char is
received. If no next char is sent, ^B is _never_ received.
This can cause all kinds of weird process behavior, like no
context help.

This will also interfere with any portion of the process key bindings
(as opposed to only the first). For example, the default emacs key-binding
for list-buffers is ^X ^B.


> No means is provided to escape the trigger sequence (and pass ^B^R^K to
> the underlying process) however the sequence is proved reasonably pretty
> collision resistant in practice. The most significant consequence is
> that ^B and ^B^R are delayed until a new character is observed.
> 
> The most significant collision I am aware of is with emacs-like
> backward-char bindings (^B) because the character movement will become
> lumpy (two characters every two key presses rather than one character
> per key press). Arrow keys or ^B^B^F provide workarounds.
> 
> Special note for tmux users:
>   tmux defaults to using ^B as its escape character but does not have a
>   default binding for ^B^R. Likewise tmux had no visual indicator
>   showing the beginning of break sequence meaning delayed the delivery
>   of ^B is not observable. Thus serial break emulation does not interfere
>   with the use of tmux's default key bindings.

Cataloging the user-space collisions here is really pointless;
it's best to make it clear that widespread userspace key binding
interference is likely.


> Signed-off-by: Daniel Thompson <daniel.thompson@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
>  include/linux/serial_core.h | 83 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
>  lib/Kconfig.debug           | 15 ++++++++
>  2 files changed, 80 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/include/linux/serial_core.h b/include/linux/serial_core.h
> index cf9c2ce9479d..56f8e3daf42c 100644
> --- a/include/linux/serial_core.h
> +++ b/include/linux/serial_core.h
> @@ -160,6 +160,9 @@ struct uart_port {
>  	struct console		*cons;			/* struct console, if any */
>  #if defined(CONFIG_SERIAL_CORE_CONSOLE) || defined(SUPPORT_SYSRQ)
>  	unsigned long		sysrq;			/* sysrq timeout */
> +#ifdef CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ_BREAK_EMULATION
> +	char                    sysrq_emul;             /* emulation state */
> +#endif
>  #endif
>  
>  	/* flags must be updated while holding port mutex */
> @@ -420,24 +423,6 @@ extern void uart_handle_cts_change(struct uart_port *uport,
>  extern void uart_insert_char(struct uart_port *port, unsigned int status,
>  		 unsigned int overrun, unsigned int ch, unsigned int flag);
>  
> -#ifdef SUPPORT_SYSRQ
> -static inline int
> -uart_handle_sysrq_char(struct uart_port *port, unsigned int ch)
> -{
> -	if (port->sysrq) {
> -		if (ch && time_before(jiffies, port->sysrq)) {
> -			handle_sysrq(ch);
> -			port->sysrq = 0;
> -			return 1;
> -		}
> -		port->sysrq = 0;
> -	}
> -	return 0;
> -}
> -#else
> -#define uart_handle_sysrq_char(port,ch) ({ (void)port; 0; })
> -#endif
> -
>  /*
>   * We do the SysRQ and SAK checking like this...
>   */
> @@ -462,6 +447,68 @@ static inline int uart_handle_break(struct uart_port *port)
>  	return 0;
>  }
>  
> +#if defined(SUPPORT_SYSRQ) && defined(CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ_BREAK_EMULATION)
> +/*
> + * Emulate a break if we are the serial console and receive ^B, ^R, ^K.
> + */
> +static inline int
> +uart_handle_sysrq_break_emulation(struct uart_port *port, unsigned int ch)
> +{
> +	const unsigned int ctrlb = 'B' & 31;
> +	const unsigned int ctrlr = 'R' & 31;
> +	const unsigned int ctrlk = 'K' & 31;
> +
> +	if (uart_console(port)) {
> +		if ((port->sysrq_emul == 0 && ch == ctrlb) ||
> +		    (port->sysrq_emul == ctrlb && ch == ctrlr)) {
> +			/* for either of the first two trigger characters
> +			 * update the state variable and move on.
> +			 */
> +			port->sysrq_emul = ch;
> +			return 1;
> +		} else if (port->sysrq_emul == ctrlr && ch == ctrlk &&
> +			   uart_handle_break(port)) {
> +			/* the break has already been emulated whilst
> +			 * evaluating the condition, tidy up and move on
> +			 */
> +			port->sysrq_emul = 0;
> +			return 1;
> +		}
> +	}
> +
> +	if (port->sysrq_emul) {
> +		/* received a partial (false) trigger, tidy up and move on */
> +		uart_insert_char(port, 0, 0, ctrlb, TTY_NORMAL);
> +		if (port->sysrq_emul == ctrlr)
> +			uart_insert_char(port, 0, 0, ctrlr, TTY_NORMAL);
> +		port->sysrq_emul = 0;
> +	}

I think this function would be shorter and clearer if the sequence
was in a byte array and the state variable was an index.

That would also allow the sequence to be configurable.

> +
> +	return 0;
> +}
> +#else
> +#define uart_handle_sysrq_break_emulation(port, ch) ({ (void)port; 0; })
> +#endif
> +
> +#ifdef SUPPORT_SYSRQ
> +static inline int
> +uart_handle_sysrq_char(struct uart_port *port, unsigned int ch)
> +{
> +	if (port->sysrq) {
> +		if (ch && time_before(jiffies, port->sysrq)) {
> +			handle_sysrq(ch);
> +			port->sysrq = 0;
> +			return 1;
> +		}
> +		port->sysrq = 0;
> +	}
> +
> +	return uart_handle_sysrq_break_emulation(port, ch);
> +}
> +#else
> +#define uart_handle_sysrq_char(port, ch) ({ (void)port; 0; })
> +#endif

Why did your diff re-insert this whole function for a 1-line change?


> +
>  /*
>   *	UART_ENABLE_MS - determine if port should enable modem status irqs
>   */
> diff --git a/lib/Kconfig.debug b/lib/Kconfig.debug
> index c2d51af327bc..3f54e85c27d2 100644
> --- a/lib/Kconfig.debug
> +++ b/lib/Kconfig.debug
> @@ -372,6 +372,21 @@ config MAGIC_SYSRQ_DEFAULT_ENABLE
>  	  This may be set to 1 or 0 to enable or disable them all, or
>  	  to a bitmask as described in Documentation/sysrq.txt.
>  
> +config MAGIC_SYSRQ_BREAK_EMULATION
> +	bool "Enable magic SysRq serial break emulation"
> +	depends on MAGIC_SYSRQ && SERIAL_CORE_CONSOLE

I think this option should depend on DEBUG_KERNEL.


> +	default n
> +	help
> +	  If you say Y here, then you can use the character sequence ^B^R^K
> +	  to simulate a BREAK on the serial console. This is useful if for
> +	  some reason you cannot send a BREAK to your console's serial port.
> +	  For example, if you have a serial device server that cannot
> +	  send a BREAK. Enabling this feature can delay the delivery of
> +	  characters to the TTY because the ^B and a subsequent ^R will be
> +	  delayed until we know what the next character is.

This help text should be more pessimistic and suggest this option _only_
if an inadequate terminal server is actually encountered and other
known methods of triggering sysrq remotely have failed.

And perhaps contain a warning.

Regards,
Peter Hurley

> +
> +	  If unsure, say N.
> +
>  config DEBUG_KERNEL
>  	bool "Kernel debugging"
>  	help
> 

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