Re: [PATCH v5 03/13] gpu: nova-core: gsp: replace BootUnloadGuard with local handlers

From: Alexandre Courbot

Date: Tue Jul 07 2026 - 08:57:15 EST


On Tue Jul 7, 2026 at 5:04 PM JST, Eliot Courtney wrote:
> On Tue Jul 7, 2026 at 4:21 PM JST, Alexandre Courbot wrote:
>> When adding the GSP unload capability, we introduced `BootUnloadGuard`
>> to automatically call `Gsp::unload` whenever an error occurred during
>> the boot process, in order to try to reset the GSP to a valid state.
>>
>> This approach is not well-suited to the errors that may occur in HALs:
>> by definition, an error occurring in the HAL means that the GSP is not
>> booted; yet the first thing that `Gsp::unload` does is queue a shutdown
>> message to the GSP, which will inevitably result in a timeout when done
>> from a HAL.
>>
>> Furthermore, `BootUnloadGuard` is problematic because it holds
>> additional references to the boot context, notably the `Falcon`s. These
>> extra references stand in the way of making some of the `Falcon`'s
>> methods mutable, since those methods would require exclusive access. As
>> this behavior is only needed in one place, introducing dedicated types
>> for it is distracting and unnecessary.
>>
>> Thus, remove `BootUnloadGuard` and adopt a two-level error handling
>> strategy:
>>
>> - HALs are free to handle their errors as they see fit (most likely, by
>> running their unload bundle if it is ready by the time of the error),
>> - `Gsp::boot` uses a `ScopeGuard` that runs `Gsp::unload`, since the
>> GSP should be up and running by the time `GspHal::boot` has returned.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@xxxxxxxxxx>
>> ---
>> drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/boot.rs | 67 +++-------------------------------
>> drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal.rs | 13 +++----
>> drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal/gh100.rs | 31 ++++++++++------
>> drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal/tu102.rs | 23 +++++++-----
>> 4 files changed, 44 insertions(+), 90 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/boot.rs b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/boot.rs
>> index ab0491b57944..536f2e341c01 100644
>> --- a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/boot.rs
>> +++ b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/boot.rs
>> @@ -30,66 +30,6 @@
>> },
>> };
>>
>> -/// Arguments required to call [`Gsp::unload`](super::Gsp::unload).
>> -///
>> -/// Stored as their own type to avoid repeating a long and tedious list in [`BootUnloadGuard`].
>> -pub(super) struct BootUnloadArgs<'a> {
>> - gsp: &'a super::Gsp,
>> - dev: &'a device::Device<device::Bound>,
>> - bar: Bar0<'a>,
>> - gsp_falcon: &'a Falcon<'a, Gsp>,
>> - sec2_falcon: &'a Falcon<'a, Sec2>,
>> - unload_bundle: Option<super::UnloadBundle>,
>> -}
>> -
>> -/// Guard that calls [`Gsp::unload`](super::Gsp::unload) with a
>> -/// [`UnloadBundle`](super::UnloadBundle) when dropped.
>> -///
>> -/// Used to ensure the `UnloadBundle` is run during failure paths.
>> -pub(super) struct BootUnloadGuard<'a> {
>> - guard: ScopeGuard<BootUnloadArgs<'a>, fn(BootUnloadArgs<'a>)>,
>> -}
>> -
>> -impl<'a> BootUnloadGuard<'a> {
>> - /// Wraps `unload_bundle` into a guard that executes it when dropped.
>> - pub(super) fn new(
>> - gsp: &'a super::Gsp,
>> - dev: &'a device::Device<device::Bound>,
>> - bar: Bar0<'a>,
>> - gsp_falcon: &'a Falcon<'a, Gsp>,
>> - sec2_falcon: &'a Falcon<'a, Sec2>,
>> - unload_bundle: Option<super::UnloadBundle>,
>> - ) -> Self {
>> - Self {
>> - guard: ScopeGuard::new_with_data(
>> - BootUnloadArgs {
>> - gsp,
>> - dev,
>> - bar,
>> - gsp_falcon,
>> - sec2_falcon,
>> - unload_bundle,
>> - },
>> - |args| {
>> - let _ = super::Gsp::unload(
>> - args.gsp,
>> - args.dev,
>> - args.bar,
>> - args.gsp_falcon,
>> - args.sec2_falcon,
>> - args.unload_bundle,
>> - );
>> - },
>> - ),
>> - }
>> - }
>> -
>> - /// Disarms the guard and returns the [`UnloadBundle`](super::UnloadBundle) it contains.
>> - pub(super) fn dismiss(self) -> Option<super::UnloadBundle> {
>> - self.guard.dismiss().unload_bundle
>> - }
>> -}
>> -
>> impl super::Gsp {
>> /// Attempt to boot the GSP.
>> ///
>> @@ -107,6 +47,7 @@ pub(crate) fn boot(
>> let bar = ctx.bar;
>> let chipset = ctx.chipset;
>> let gsp_falcon = ctx.gsp_falcon;
>> + let sec2_falcon = ctx.sec2_falcon;
>> let dev = pdev.as_ref();
>> let hal = super::hal::gsp_hal(chipset);
>>
>> @@ -118,7 +59,11 @@ pub(crate) fn boot(
>> let wpr_meta = Coherent::init(dev, GFP_KERNEL, GspFwWprMeta::new(&gsp_fw, &fb_layout))?;
>>
>> // Perform the chipset-specific boot sequence, and retrieve the unload bundle.
>> - let unload_guard = hal.boot(&self, &ctx, &fb_layout, &wpr_meta)?;
>> + let unload_bundle = hal.boot(&self, &ctx, &fb_layout, &wpr_meta)?;
>> +
>> + let unload_guard = ScopeGuard::new_with_data(unload_bundle, |unload_bundle| {
>> + let _ = self.unload(dev, bar, gsp_falcon, sec2_falcon, unload_bundle);
>> + });
>>
>> gsp_falcon.write_os_version(gsp_fw.bootloader.app_version);
>>
>> diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal.rs b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal.rs
>> index d3e47ef206de..851d1f24c137 100644
>> --- a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal.rs
>> +++ b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal.rs
>> @@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
>> Chipset, //
>> },
>> gsp::{
>> - boot::BootUnloadGuard,
>> Gsp,
>> GspBootContext,
>> GspFwWprMeta, //
>> @@ -51,15 +50,15 @@ fn run(
>> pub(super) trait GspHal: Send {
>> /// Performs the GSP boot process, loading and running the required firmwares as needed.
>> ///
>> - /// Upon success, returns a guard that runs the GSP unload sequence if GSP boot does not
>> - /// complete.
>> - fn boot<'a>(
>> + /// Upon success, returns the [`crate::gsp::UnloadBundle`] to use with [`Gsp::unload`], if one
>> + /// could be created.
>> + fn boot(
>> &self,
>> - gsp: &'a Gsp,
>> - ctx: &GspBootContext<'a>,
>> + gsp: &Gsp,
>> + ctx: &GspBootContext<'_>,
>> fb_layout: &FbLayout,
>> wpr_meta: &Coherent<GspFwWprMeta>,
>> - ) -> Result<BootUnloadGuard<'a>>;
>> + ) -> Result<Option<crate::gsp::UnloadBundle>>;
>>
>> /// Performs HAL-specific post-GSP boot tasks.
>> ///
>> diff --git a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal/gh100.rs b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal/gh100.rs
>> index 1d06405a32f6..18c889f9f413 100644
>> --- a/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal/gh100.rs
>> +++ b/drivers/gpu/nova-core/gsp/hal/gh100.rs
>> @@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
>> Fsp, //
>> },
>> gsp::{
>> - boot::BootUnloadGuard,
>> hal::{
>> GspHal,
>> UnloadBundle, //
>> @@ -143,13 +142,13 @@ impl GspHal for Gh100 {
>> ///
>> /// This path uses FSP to establish a chain of trust and boot GSP-FMC. FSP handles
>> /// the GSP boot internally - no manual GSP reset/boot is needed.
>> - fn boot<'a>(
>> + fn boot(
>> &self,
>> - gsp: &'a Gsp,
>> - ctx: &GspBootContext<'a>,
>> + gsp: &Gsp,
>> + ctx: &GspBootContext<'_>,
>> fb_layout: &FbLayout,
>> wpr_meta: &Coherent<GspFwWprMeta>,
>> - ) -> Result<BootUnloadGuard<'a>> {
>> + ) -> Result<Option<crate::gsp::UnloadBundle>> {
>> let dev = ctx.dev();
>> let bar = ctx.bar;
>> let chipset = ctx.chipset;
>> @@ -160,10 +159,6 @@ fn boot<'a>(
>> KBox::new(FspUnloadBundle, GFP_KERNEL)? as KBox<dyn UnloadBundle>
>> );
>>
>> - // Wrap the unload bundle into a drop guard so it is automatically run upon failure.
>> - let unload_guard =
>> - BootUnloadGuard::new(gsp, dev, bar, gsp_falcon, sec2_falcon, Some(unload_bundle));
>> -
>> let mut fsp = Fsp::wait_secure_boot(dev, bar, chipset)?;
>>
>> let args = FmcBootArgs::new(
>> @@ -174,11 +169,23 @@ fn boot<'a>(
>> false,
>> )?;
>>
>> - fsp.boot_fmc(dev, fb_layout, &args)?;
>> + // Keep the result as we want to wait for lockdown release even in case of error, to make
>> + // sure `args` is not accessed by the GSP anymore.
>> + let fsp_res = fsp.boot_fmc(dev, fb_layout, &args);
>>
>> - wait_for_gsp_lockdown_release(dev, gsp_falcon, args.boot_params_dma_handle())?;
>> + // Wait for GSP-FMC to release the GSP lockdown, indicating that `args` is not accessed
>> + // anymore.
>> + let lockdown_res =
>> + wait_for_gsp_lockdown_release(dev, gsp_falcon, args.boot_params_dma_handle());
>>
>> - Ok(unload_guard)
>> + match fsp_res.and(lockdown_res) {
>> + Ok(()) => Ok(Some(unload_bundle)),
>> + Err(e) => {
>> + // Wait for the GSP RISC-V core to halt in case of error.
>> + let _ = unload_bundle.0.run(dev, bar, gsp_falcon, sec2_falcon);
>> + Err(e)
>> + }
>> + }
>
> IMO we should just ScopeGuard here too (after args creation) to run the
> unload bundle. It will avoid manual manipulation of results which is
> error prone (since a ? added later will break things) and also halt
> happens-after gsp lockdown, so it's a natural sequence point. Also I am

ScopedGuard here is reasonable - do you mean only for running the unload
bundle, or would you also duplicate the lockdown release there so we can
avoid using `and`?

> not 100% sure but I am not fully convinced that
> wait_for_gsp_lockdown_release will correctly detect all errors if they
> occur.

The failure path is a best effort. I don't think we can guarantee
anything as it doesn't appear to have been designed with recovery in mind.

>
> With ^ change,
> Reviewed-by: Eliot Courtney <ecourtney@xxxxxxxxxx>

Thanks!