Re: [PATCH 1/2] loop: use blk_rq_nr_phys_segments() instead of iterating bvecs

From: Chaitanya Kulkarni
Date: Sun Nov 09 2025 - 14:05:37 EST


On 11/9/25 04:19, Ming Lei wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 08, 2025 at 04:01:00PM -0700, Caleb Sander Mateos wrote:
>> The number of bvecs can be obtained directly from struct request's
>> nr_phys_segments field via blk_rq_nr_phys_segments(), so use that
>> instead of iterating over the bvecs an extra time.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Caleb Sander Mateos <csander@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> ---
>> drivers/block/loop.c | 5 +----
>> 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 4 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/drivers/block/loop.c b/drivers/block/loop.c
>> index 13ce229d450c..8096478fad45 100644
>> --- a/drivers/block/loop.c
>> +++ b/drivers/block/loop.c
>> @@ -346,16 +346,13 @@ static int lo_rw_aio(struct loop_device *lo, struct loop_cmd *cmd,
>> struct request *rq = blk_mq_rq_from_pdu(cmd);
>> struct bio *bio = rq->bio;
>> struct file *file = lo->lo_backing_file;
>> struct bio_vec tmp;
>> unsigned int offset;
>> - int nr_bvec = 0;
>> + unsigned short nr_bvec = blk_rq_nr_phys_segments(rq);
>> int ret;
>>
>> - rq_for_each_bvec(tmp, rq, rq_iter)
>> - nr_bvec++;
>> -
> The two may not be same, since one bvec can be splitted into multiple segments.
>
> Thanks,
> Ming
>
>

I had this patch only to realize this :-

bvec_split_segs():-
* When splitting a bio, it can happen that a bvec is encountered that is too
* big to fit in a single segment and hence that it has to be split in the
* middle. This function verifies whether or not that should happen. The
value
* %true is returned if and only if appending the entire @bv to a bio with
* *@nsegs segments and *@sectors sectors would make that bio
unacceptable for
* the block driver.

if following messup the indentation after I send plz ignore :-

submit_bio()
  -> submit_bio_noacct()
    -> __submit_bio_noacct()
      -> __submit_bio()
        -> blk_mq_submit_bio()
          -> __bio_split_to_limits()
            -> bio_split_rw()
              -> bio_split_rw_at()
                -> bio_split_io_at()

                  -- bio_for_each_bvec()   (iterate all bvecs)
                   -- [Fast path]
                        nsegs++             (1 bvec = 1 segment)
                        bytes += bv.bv_len
                   -- [Slow path]
                      /* one bv is passed from bio bvec list  */
                      -> bvec_split_segs(lim, &bv, &nsegs, &bytes,
                                         lim->max_segments, max_bytes)

                           /* working on one bvec and associated
segments */
                           -- while (len && *nsegs < max_segs) {

                                ...

                                get_max_segment_size()
                                  -> min(len,
                                         seg_boundary_mask - offset,
                                         max_segment_size)

                                (*nsegs)++
                                total_len += seg_size
                                len -= seg_size

                                ...

                              }

                           -- *bytes += total_len
                           -- return (len > 0)

          -> blk_mq_bio_to_request()
               rq->nr_phys_segments = nr_segs

-ck