Re: [PATCH 1/2] hung_task: Consolidate hung task warning into an atomic log block

From: Lance Yang
Date: Tue Dec 09 2025 - 00:12:34 EST




On 2025/12/9 12:12, Aaron Tomlin wrote:
Consolidate the multi-line console output in check_hung_task() into a new
helper function, hung_task_diagnostics().

This patch ensures the entire diagnostic block (task info, kernel
version, and sysctl advice) is logged to the ring buffer via a single
pr_err() call. This is critical in a concurrent environment to prevent
message lines from interleaving with other CPU activity, thus
maintaining contextual integrity of the warning message.

Signed-off-by: Aaron Tomlin <atomlin@xxxxxxxxxxx>
---
kernel/hung_task.c | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
1 file changed, 27 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/hung_task.c b/kernel/hung_task.c
index d2254c91450b..d5109a0994c5 100644
--- a/kernel/hung_task.c
+++ b/kernel/hung_task.c
@@ -223,6 +223,32 @@ static inline void debug_show_blocker(struct task_struct *task, unsigned long ti
}
#endif
+/**
+ * hung_task_diagnostics - Print structured diagnostic info for a hung task.
+ * @t: The struct task_struct of the detected hung task.
+ *
+ * This function consolidates the printing of core diagnostic information
+ * for a task found to be blocked. This approach ensures atomic logging
+ * of the multi-line message block, preventing interleaving by other
+ * console activity, thus maintaining contextual clarity.
+ */
+static void hung_task_diagnostics(struct task_struct *t)
+{
+ unsigned long blocked_secs = (jiffies - t->last_switch_time) / HZ;
+
+ pr_err("INFO: task %s:%d blocked for more than %ld seconds.\n"
+ " %s %s %.*s\n"
+ "%s\n"

"%s\n" forces an unconditional newline, causing a spurious blank line when
the flag isn't set, right?

+ "\"echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs\""
+ " disables this message.\n",
+ t->comm, t->pid, blocked_secs,
+ print_tainted(), init_utsname()->release,
+ (int)strcspn(init_utsname()->version, " "),
+ init_utsname()->version,
+ (t->flags & PF_POSTCOREDUMP) ?
+ " Blocked by coredump." : "");
+}
+
static void check_hung_task(struct task_struct *t, unsigned long timeout,
unsigned long prev_detect_count)
{
@@ -252,16 +278,7 @@ static void check_hung_task(struct task_struct *t, unsigned long timeout,
if (sysctl_hung_task_warnings || hung_task_call_panic) {
if (sysctl_hung_task_warnings > 0)
sysctl_hung_task_warnings--;
- pr_err("INFO: task %s:%d blocked for more than %ld seconds.\n",
- t->comm, t->pid, (jiffies - t->last_switch_time) / HZ);
- pr_err(" %s %s %.*s\n",
- print_tainted(), init_utsname()->release,
- (int)strcspn(init_utsname()->version, " "),
- init_utsname()->version);
- if (t->flags & PF_POSTCOREDUMP)
- pr_err(" Blocked by coredump.\n");
- pr_err("\"echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs\""
- " disables this message.\n");
+ hung_task_diagnostics(t);

Since there's only one caller, why not just open-code it ...

TBH, jamming everything into a single pr_err() call doesn't look any
cleaner to me than the original code :(

sched_show_task(t);
debug_show_blocker(t, timeout);

Cheers,
Lance