Re: [PATCHv1, RFC 0/8] Boot-time switching between 4- and 5-level paging

[Kirill A. Shutemov]

On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 08:51:48AM -0700, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 6:00 AM, Kirill A. Shutemov
> <kirill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > I don't see how kernel threads can use 4-level paging. It doesn't work
> > from virtual memory layout POV. Kernel claims half of full virtual address
> > space for itself -- 256 PGD entries, not one as we would effectively have
> > in case of switching to 4-level paging. For instance, addresses, where
> > vmalloc and vmemmap are mapped, are not canonical with 4-level paging.
> 
> I would have just assumed we'd map the kernel in the shared part that
> fits in the top 47 bits.
> 
> But it sounds like you can't switch back and forth anyway, so I guess it's moot.
> 
> Where *is* the LA57 documentation, btw? I had an old x86 architecture
> manual, so I updated it, but LA57 isn't mentioned in the new one
> either.

It's in a separate white paper for now:

https://software.intel.com/sites/default/files/managed/2b/80/5-level_paging_white_paper.pdf

-- 
 Kirill A. Shutemov