Re: Random crashes with i386 and efi boots

[Andy Lutomirski]

> On Sep 10, 2018, at 2:56 PM, Guenter Roeck <linux@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Hi folks,
> 
> even after commit eeb89e2bb1ac ("x86/efi: Load fixmap GDT in
> efi_call_phys_epilog()"), my i386/efi qemu boot tests still crash randomly
> (roughly 5-10% of the time). As before, I don't see much useful output in
> the qemu log (this time it doesn't even complain about a triple fault). 
> 
> Debugging shows that the crash happens in efi_call_phys_epilog().
> A sample log from a crashed test run is attached below. It appears that
> the crash happens if there is an interrupt at a critical section of the
> code.
> 
> While playing with the code, I found a possible fix.
> 
> diff --git a/arch/x86/platform/efi/efi_32.c b/arch/x86/platform/efi/efi_32.c
> index 05ca14222463..9959657127f4 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/platform/efi/efi_32.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/platform/efi/efi_32.c
> @@ -85,10 +85,9 @@ pgd_t * __init efi_call_phys_prolog(void)
> 
> void __init efi_call_phys_epilog(pgd_t *save_pgd)
> {
> +    load_fixmap_gdt(0);
>    load_cr3(save_pgd);
>    __flush_tlb_all();
> -
> -    load_fixmap_gdt(0);
> }

We have IRQs on here?  It seems plausible that weâre in a window where the EFI pgd doesnât have cpu_entry_area mapped. Also, the hard coded CPU 0 is suspicious.

Maybe try instrumenting the code to check whether the clone_pgd_range calls in setup_percpu.c have happened yet?

Your patch may well be correct, but, if we have IRQs on, we should really have cpu_entry_area mapped in both pgds.

Or we could turn off IRQs. Why on Earth are IRQs on in a context where the fixmap gdt is unusable?