In __cpufreq_remove_dev_prepare(), the code which decides whether to remove the sysfs link or nominate a new policy cpu, is governed by an if/else block with a rather complex set of conditionals. Worse, they harbor a subtlety which leads to certain unintended behavior. The code looks like this: if (cpu != policy->cpu && !frozen) { sysfs_remove_link(&dev->kobj, "cpufreq"); } else if (cpus > 1) { new_cpu = cpufreq_nominate_new_policy_cpu(...); ... update_policy_cpu(..., new_cpu); } The original intention was: If the CPU going offline is not policy->cpu, just remove the link. On the other hand, if the CPU going offline is the policy->cpu itself, handover the policy->cpu job to some other surviving CPU in that policy. But because the 'if' condition also includes the 'frozen' check, now there are *two* possibilities by which we can enter the 'else' block: 1. cpu == policy->cpu (intended) 2. cpu != policy->cpu && frozen (unintended) Due to the second (unintended) scenario, we end up spuriously nominating a CPU as the policy->cpu, even when the existing policy->cpu is alive and well. This can cause problems further down the line, especially when we end up nominating the same policy->cpu as the new one (ie., old == new), because it totally confuses update_policy_cpu(). To avoid this mess, restructure the if/else block to only do what was originally intended, and thus prevent any unwelcome surprises. Signed-off-by: Srivatsa S. Bhat <srivatsa.bhat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Tested-by: Stephen Warren <swarren@xxxxxxxxxx> --- drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c | 5 +++-- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c b/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c index 62bdb95..247842b 100644 --- a/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c +++ b/drivers/cpufreq/cpufreq.c @@ -1193,8 +1193,9 @@ static int __cpufreq_remove_dev_prepare(struct device *dev, cpumask_clear_cpu(cpu, policy->cpus); unlock_policy_rwsem_write(cpu); - if (cpu != policy->cpu && !frozen) { - sysfs_remove_link(&dev->kobj, "cpufreq"); + if (cpu != policy->cpu) { + if (!frozen) + sysfs_remove_link(&dev->kobj, "cpufreq"); } else if (cpus > 1) { new_cpu = cpufreq_nominate_new_policy_cpu(policy, cpu, frozen); -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe cpufreq" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html