The kworker routine update_writeback_rate() is schedued to update the writeback rate in every 5 seconds by default. Before calling __update_writeback_rate() to do real job, semaphore dc->writeback_lock should be held by the kworker routine. At the same time, bcache writeback thread routine bch_writeback_thread() also needs to hold dc->writeback_lock before flushing dirty data back into the backing device. If the dirty data set is large, it might be very long time for bch_writeback_thread() to scan all dirty buckets and releases dc->writeback_lock. In such case update_writeback_rate() can be starved for long enough time so that kernel reports a soft lockup warn- ing started like: watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#246 stuck for 23s! [kworker/246:31:179713] Such soft lockup condition is unnecessary, because after the writeback thread finishes its job and releases dc->writeback_lock, the kworker update_writeback_rate() may continue to work and everything is fine indeed. This patch avoids the unnecessary soft lockup by the following method, - Add new member to struct cached_dev - dc->rate_update_retry (0 by default) - In update_writeback_rate() call down_read_trylock(&dc->writeback_lock) firstly, if it fails then lock contention happens. - If dc->rate_update_retry <= BCH_WBRATE_UPDATE_MAX_SKIPS (15), doesn't acquire the lock and reschedules the kworker for next try. - If dc->rate_update_retry > BCH_WBRATE_UPDATE_MAX_SKIPS, no retry anymore and call down_read(&dc->writeback_lock) to wait for the lock. By the above method, at worst case update_writeback_rate() may retry for 1+ minutes before blocking on dc->writeback_lock by calling down_read(). For a 4TB cache device with 1TB dirty data, 90%+ of the unnecessary soft lockup warning message can be avoided. When retrying to acquire dc->writeback_lock in update_writeback_rate(), of course the writeback rate cannot be updated. It is fair, because when the kworker is blocked on the lock contention of dc->writeback_lock, the writeback rate cannot be updated neither. This change follows Jens Axboe's suggestion to a more clear and simple version. Signed-off-by: Coly Li <colyli@xxxxxxx> --- drivers/md/bcache/bcache.h | 7 +++++++ drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++---------- 2 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-) diff --git a/drivers/md/bcache/bcache.h b/drivers/md/bcache/bcache.h index 9ed9c955add7..2acda9cea0f9 100644 --- a/drivers/md/bcache/bcache.h +++ b/drivers/md/bcache/bcache.h @@ -395,6 +395,13 @@ struct cached_dev { atomic_t io_errors; unsigned int error_limit; unsigned int offline_seconds; + + /* + * Retry to update writeback_rate if contention happens for + * down_read(dc->writeback_lock) in update_writeback_rate() + */ +#define BCH_WBRATE_UPDATE_MAX_SKIPS 15 + unsigned int rate_update_retry; }; enum alloc_reserve { diff --git a/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c b/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c index d138a2d73240..3f0ff3aab6f2 100644 --- a/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c +++ b/drivers/md/bcache/writeback.c @@ -235,19 +235,27 @@ static void update_writeback_rate(struct work_struct *work) return; } - if (atomic_read(&dc->has_dirty) && dc->writeback_percent) { - /* - * If the whole cache set is idle, set_at_max_writeback_rate() - * will set writeback rate to a max number. Then it is - * unncessary to update writeback rate for an idle cache set - * in maximum writeback rate number(s). - */ - if (!set_at_max_writeback_rate(c, dc)) { - down_read(&dc->writeback_lock); + /* + * If the whole cache set is idle, set_at_max_writeback_rate() + * will set writeback rate to a max number. Then it is + * unncessary to update writeback rate for an idle cache set + * in maximum writeback rate number(s). + */ + if (atomic_read(&dc->has_dirty) && dc->writeback_percent && + !set_at_max_writeback_rate(c, dc)) { + do { + if (!down_read_trylock((&dc->writeback_lock))) { + dc->rate_update_retry++; + if (dc->rate_update_retry <= + BCH_WBRATE_UPDATE_MAX_SKIPS) + break; + down_read(&dc->writeback_lock); + dc->rate_update_retry = 0; + } __update_writeback_rate(dc); update_gc_after_writeback(c); up_read(&dc->writeback_lock); - } + } while (0); } @@ -1006,6 +1014,9 @@ void bch_cached_dev_writeback_init(struct cached_dev *dc) dc->writeback_rate_fp_term_high = 1000; dc->writeback_rate_i_term_inverse = 10000; + /* For dc->writeback_lock contention in update_writeback_rate() */ + dc->rate_update_retry = 0; + WARN_ON(test_and_clear_bit(BCACHE_DEV_WB_RUNNING, &dc->disk.flags)); INIT_DELAYED_WORK(&dc->writeback_rate_update, update_writeback_rate); } -- 2.35.3