Re: [PATCH v5 04/11] mm: zswap: add range lookup for large-folio swapin

From: Usama Arif

Date: Wed Jul 29 2026 - 11:17:28 EST




On 27/07/2026 17:24, Nhat Pham wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 24, 2026 at 2:59 AM Usama Arif <usama.arif@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> On 23/07/2026 17:42, Yosry Ahmed wrote:
>>>>>> @@ -1595,13 +1611,19 @@ int zswap_load(struct folio *folio)
>>>>>> return -ENOENT;
>>>>>>
>>>>>> /*
>>>>>> - * Large folios should not be swapped in while zswap is being used, as
>>>>>> - * they are not properly handled. Zswap does not properly load large
>>>>>> - * folios, and a large folio may only be partially in zswap.
>>>>>> + * A large folio reaches zswap_load() only when its whole range is
>>>>>> + * expected to be on disk: PMD swap-entry consumers split before
>>>>>> + * calling into PMD-order swapin whenever any slot is still in zswap.
>>>>>> + * Confirm the range is entirely absent from zswap and return -ENOENT
>>>>>> + * so the caller reads it from disk; if a slot is unexpectedly still in
>>>>>> + * zswap, fail the read rather than return partially-initialized data.
>>>>>> */
>>>>>> - if (WARN_ON_ONCE(folio_test_large(folio))) {
>>>>>> - folio_unlock(folio);
>>>>>> - return -EINVAL;
>>>>>> + if (folio_test_large(folio)) {
>>>>>> + if (zswap_is_present(swp, folio_nr_pages(folio))) {
>>>>>
>>>>> Is dropping the warning here intentional (for the folio_test_large() &&
>>>>> zswap_is_present() case)?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Yes, so we can end up in a race, which should be handled gracefully.
>>>>
>>>> For example, lets say we have zswap writeback enabled, which means we
>>>> can end up in a state where we have a PMD swap entry and 511 of the 512
>>>> slots have been written to disk, but 1 slot (slot X) is still in zswap.
>>>>
>>>> We can then have the following race:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> CPU A: PMD swap-in CPU B: split-PTE swap-in
>>>> ------------------ ------------------------
>>>>
>>>> Checks swap cache: empty
>>>>
>>>> Faults slot X
>>>> Adds order-0 folio F
>>>> zswap_load(F):
>>>> removes X from zswap
>>>> marks F dirty
>>>>
>>>> Checks zswap range: empty
>>>> A is preempted
>>>>
>>>> Unmaps/reclaims F
>>>> zswap_store(F):
>>>> puts X back in zswap
>>>> Removes F from swap cache
>>>>
>>>> A resumes
>>>> Allocates large swap-cache folio G
>>>> zswap_load(G) finds X in zswap
>>>
>>> Why don't we check the zswap range after allocating a folio in the
>>> swap cache? I am assuming at this point we have the folio locked and
>>> the result should be stable?
>>>
>>
>> Yes that makes sense. The folio is locked and the result will be stable.
>> How about something like below?
>>
>> diff --git a/mm/swap_state.c b/mm/swap_state.c
>> index 1f08fb522036..41f168377cb1 100644
>> --- a/mm/swap_state.c
>> +++ b/mm/swap_state.c
>> @@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
>> #include <linux/kernel_stat.h>
>> #include <linux/mempolicy.h>
>> #include <linux/swap.h>
>> +#include <linux/zswap.h>
>> #include <linux/leafops.h>
>> #include <linux/init.h>
>> #include <linux/pagemap.h>
>> @@ -500,6 +501,17 @@ static struct folio *__swap_cache_alloc(struct swap_cluster_info *ci,
>> __folio_set_locked(folio);
>> __folio_set_swapbacked(folio);
>> __swap_cache_do_add_folio(ci, folio, entry);
>> + /*
>> + * Reject mixed zswap/disk backing before starting the read.
>> + */
>> + if (order && zswap_is_present(entry, nr_pages)) {
>> + __swap_cache_do_del_folio(ci, folio, entry, shadow);
>> + spin_unlock(&ci->lock);
>> + folio_unlock(folio);
>> + /* nr_pages refs from swap cache, 1 from allocation */
>> + folio_put_refs(folio, nr_pages + 1);
>> + return ERR_PTR(-EBUSY);
>> + }
>
> If you move it to __swap_cache_add_check(), you can potentially
> backoff even before the folio allocation? :)


Thanks Nhat! Yes, this looks much much better as well:

@@ -190,6 +191,15 @@ static int __swap_cache_add_check(struct swap_cluster_info *ci,
if (nr == 1)
return 0;

+ /*
+ * The cluster lock serializes swap-cache insertion with zswap
+ * writeback. Reject mixed zswap/disk backing before allocating a
+ * large folio and recheck it before adding the folio to swap cache.
+ */
+ if (zswap_is_present(swp_entry(swp_type(targ_entry),
+ round_down(swp_offset(targ_entry), nr)), nr))
+ return -EBUSY;