On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 12:30:51 +0200, Manohar Vanga wrote: > +++ b/drivers/staging/vme/vme.c (snip) > +static int __vme_register_driver(struct vme_driver *drv, unsigned int ndevs) > { > - int i; > - struct vme_dev *vdev; > - > + struct vme_bridge *bridge; > + int err = 0; > > - for (i = 0; i < VME_SLOTS_MAX; i++) { > - vdev = &bridge->dev[i]; > - device_unregister(&vdev->dev); > + mutex_lock(&vme_buses_lock); > + list_for_each_entry(bridge, &vme_bus_list, bus_list) { > + /* > + * We increase the refcount of the bridge module here to > + * prevent it from being removed during driver registration > + */ > + if (!vme_bridge_get(bridge->num)) > + continue; hmm have you tested this? It should deadlock, because as in patch 3 vme_bridge_get() acquires vme_buses_lock. An alternative is to call here try_module_get() directly on bridge->owner, which would succeed in preventing it from being removed (the lock is held > + mutex_unlock(&vme_buses_lock); > + err = __vme_register_driver_bus(drv, bridge, ndevs); > + mutex_lock(&vme_buses_lock); > + vme_bridge_put(bridge); This, interestingly, wouldn't deadlock, because we pass the bridge directly. See my second message to patch 3. > + if (err) > + break; > } > - vme_remove_bus(bridge); > + mutex_unlock(&vme_buses_lock); > + return err; > } The whole loop is admittedly complex. IIRC in my original patch module_get/put were called here directly, and vme_buses_lock was unlocked before calling __vme_register_driver_bus() to avoid a deadlock, because within that function the .probe methods of the driver would likely call vme_bridge_get(). Now that we don't export them, the loop could be simplified to: > + mutex_lock(&vme_buses_lock); > + list_for_each_entry(bridge, &vme_bus_list, bus_list) { > + err = __vme_register_driver_bus(drv, bridge, ndevs); > + if (err) > + break; > } > + mutex_unlock(&vme_buses_lock); This cannot race with a bridge being removed. Let's see how: If the bridge driver is sane, it will call vme_unregister_bridge() in its .release method. In there vme_remove_bus is called, and the thread will try to acquire vme_buses_lock, which is already held by above loop. Coming back to the loop, the try_get_module call in vme_bus_probe will fail, because the bridge module is being removed, and as a result all the devices under that bridge won't be installed--this is what we wanted. When the loop finishes we unlock vme_buses_lock and the removal of the bus completes. That said, I would ONLY take the simplified loop if a comment was added to explain the above race. And I'd add that comment near vme_bus_get/put, because if those are exported one day, the above loop would need be changed accordingly. Emilio _______________________________________________ devel mailing list devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://driverdev.linuxdriverproject.org/mailman/listinfo/devel