Re: [PATCH v4 4/6] x86/microcode/intel: Implement staging handler
From: Dave Hansen
Date: Wed Aug 13 2025 - 14:44:22 EST
> +/*
> + * Determine if the next data chunk can be sent. Each chunk is typically
> + * one page unless the remaining data is smaller. If the total
> + * transmitted data exceeds the defined limit, a timeout occurs.
> + */
This comment isn't really telling the whole story. It's not just
determining if the chunk can be sent, it's calculating it and filling it in.
> +static bool can_send_next_chunk(struct staging_state *ss)
> +{
> + WARN_ON_ONCE(ss->ucode_len < ss->offset);
Please don't WARN_ON() they can be fatal because of panic_on_warn. Also
I think this is the wrong spot for this. We should enforce this at the
time ss->offset is _established_ which is oddly enough in the next patch.
ss->offset = read_mbox_dword(ss->mmio_base);
if (ss->offset > ss->ucode_len)
// error out
> + ss->chunk_size = min(MBOX_XACTION_SIZE, ss->ucode_len - ss->offset);
It's a _little_ non-obvious that "can_send_next_chunk()" is also setting
->chunk_size. It would be easier to grok if it was something like:
ok = calc_next_chunk_size(&ss);
if (!ok)
// error out
> + if (ss->bytes_sent + ss->chunk_size > MBOX_XACTION_MAX(ss->ucode_len)) {
> + ss->state = UCODE_TIMEOUT;
> + return false;
> + }
"TIMEOUT" seems like an odd thing to call this failure. Can you explain
the choice of this error code a bit, please?
> +/*
> + * Handle the staging process using the mailbox MMIO interface. The
> + * microcode image is transferred in chunks until completion. Return the
> + * result state.
> */
> static enum ucode_state do_stage(u64 mmio_pa)
> {
> - pr_debug_once("Staging implementation is pending.\n");
> - return UCODE_ERROR;
> + struct staging_state ss = {};
> +
> + ss.mmio_base = ioremap(mmio_pa, MBOX_REG_NUM * MBOX_REG_SIZE);
> + if (WARN_ON_ONCE(!ss.mmio_base))
> + return UCODE_ERROR;
> +
> + init_stage(&ss);
> +
> + /* Perform the staging process while within the retry limit */
> + while (!is_stage_complete(ss.offset) && can_send_next_chunk(&ss)) {
> + /* Send a chunk of microcode each time: */
> + if (!send_data_chunk(&ss))
> + break;
> + /*
> + * Then, ask the hardware which piece of the image it
> + * needs next. The same piece may be sent more than once.
> + */
> + if (!fetch_next_offset(&ss))
> + break;
> + }
The return types here are a _bit_ wonky. The 'bool' returns make sense
for things like is_stage_complete(). But they don't look right for:
if (!send_data_chunk(&ss))
break;
where we'd typically use an -ERRNO and where 0 mean success. It would
look something like this:
while (!staging_is_complete(&ss)) {
err = send_data_chunk(&ss);
if (err)
break;
err = fetch_next_offset(&ss);
if (err)
break;
}
That's utterly unambiguous about the intent and what types the send and
fetch function _must_ have.
Note I also moved the can_send_next_chunk() call into
staging_is_complete(). I think that makes sense as well for the
top-level loop.