The Intel(R) Xeon Phi(TM) Processor x200 Family (codename: Knights Landing) has an erratum where a processor thread setting the Accessed or Dirty bits may not do so atomically against its checks for the Present bit. This may cause a thread (which is about to page fault) to set A and/or D, even though the Present bit had already been atomically cleared. If the PTE is used for storing a swap index or a NUMA migration index, the A bit could be misinterpreted as part of the swap type. The stray bits being set cause a software-cleared PTE to be interpreted as a swap entry. In some cases (like when the swap index ends up being for a non-existent swapfile), the kernel detects the stray value and WARN()s about it, but there is no guarantee that the kernel can always detect it. When we have 64-bit PTEs (64-bit mode or 32-bit PAE), we were able to move the swap PTE format around to avoid these troublesome bits. But, 32-bit non-PAE is tight on bits. So, disallow it from running on this hardware. I can't imagine anyone wanting to run 32-bit on this hardware, but this is the safe thing to do. --- b/arch/x86/boot/boot.h | 1 + b/arch/x86/boot/cpu.c | 2 ++ b/arch/x86/boot/cpucheck.c | 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ b/arch/x86/boot/cpuflags.c | 1 + b/arch/x86/boot/cpuflags.h | 1 + 5 files changed, 37 insertions(+) diff -puN arch/x86/boot/boot.h~knl-strays-40-disallow-non-PAE-32-bit-on-KNL arch/x86/boot/boot.h --- a/arch/x86/boot/boot.h~knl-strays-40-disallow-non-PAE-32-bit-on-KNL 2016-07-01 10:42:07.302790241 -0700 +++ b/arch/x86/boot/boot.h 2016-07-01 10:42:07.311790650 -0700 @@ -295,6 +295,7 @@ static inline int cmdline_find_option_bo /* cpu.c, cpucheck.c */ int check_cpu(int *cpu_level_ptr, int *req_level_ptr, u32 **err_flags_ptr); +int check_knl_erratum(void); int validate_cpu(void); /* early_serial_console.c */ diff -puN arch/x86/boot/cpu.c~knl-strays-40-disallow-non-PAE-32-bit-on-KNL arch/x86/boot/cpu.c --- a/arch/x86/boot/cpu.c~knl-strays-40-disallow-non-PAE-32-bit-on-KNL 2016-07-01 10:42:07.303790286 -0700 +++ b/arch/x86/boot/cpu.c 2016-07-01 10:42:07.312790695 -0700 @@ -93,6 +93,8 @@ int validate_cpu(void) show_cap_strs(err_flags); putchar('\n'); return -1; + } else if (check_knl_erratum()) { + return -1; } else { return 0; } diff -puN arch/x86/boot/cpucheck.c~knl-strays-40-disallow-non-PAE-32-bit-on-KNL arch/x86/boot/cpucheck.c --- a/arch/x86/boot/cpucheck.c~knl-strays-40-disallow-non-PAE-32-bit-on-KNL 2016-07-01 10:42:07.305790377 -0700 +++ b/arch/x86/boot/cpucheck.c 2016-07-01 10:42:07.312790695 -0700 @@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ # include "boot.h" #endif #include <linux/types.h> +#include <asm/intel-family.h> #include <asm/processor-flags.h> #include <asm/required-features.h> #include <asm/msr-index.h> @@ -175,6 +176,8 @@ int check_cpu(int *cpu_level_ptr, int *r puts("WARNING: PAE disabled. Use parameter 'forcepae' to enable at your own risk!\n"); } } + if (!err) + err = check_knl_erratum(); if (err_flags_ptr) *err_flags_ptr = err ? err_flags : NULL; @@ -185,3 +188,32 @@ int check_cpu(int *cpu_level_ptr, int *r return (cpu.level < req_level || err) ? -1 : 0; } + +int check_knl_erratum(void) +{ + /* + * First check for the affected model/family: + */ + if (!is_intel() || + cpu.family != 6 || + cpu.model != INTEL_FAM6_XEON_PHI_KNL) + return 0; + + /* + * This erratum affects the Accessed/Dirty bits, and can + * cause stray bits to be set in !Present PTEs. We have + * enough bits in our 64-bit PTEs (which we have on real + * 64-bit mode or PAE) to avoid using these troublesome + * bits. But, we do not have enough soace in our 32-bit + * PTEs. So, refuse to run on 32-bit non-PAE kernels. + */ + if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_64) || IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_PAE)) + return 0; + + puts("This 32-bit kernel can not run on this processor due\n" + "to a processor erratum. Use a 64-bit kernel, or PAE.\n\n"); + + return -1; +} + + diff -puN arch/x86/boot/cpuflags.c~knl-strays-40-disallow-non-PAE-32-bit-on-KNL arch/x86/boot/cpuflags.c --- a/arch/x86/boot/cpuflags.c~knl-strays-40-disallow-non-PAE-32-bit-on-KNL 2016-07-01 10:42:07.307790468 -0700 +++ b/arch/x86/boot/cpuflags.c 2016-07-01 10:42:07.312790695 -0700 @@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ void get_cpuflags(void) cpuid(0x1, &tfms, &ignored, &cpu.flags[4], &cpu.flags[0]); cpu.level = (tfms >> 8) & 15; + cpu.family = cpu.level; cpu.model = (tfms >> 4) & 15; if (cpu.level >= 6) cpu.model += ((tfms >> 16) & 0xf) << 4; diff -puN arch/x86/boot/cpuflags.h~knl-strays-40-disallow-non-PAE-32-bit-on-KNL arch/x86/boot/cpuflags.h --- a/arch/x86/boot/cpuflags.h~knl-strays-40-disallow-non-PAE-32-bit-on-KNL 2016-07-01 10:42:07.308790514 -0700 +++ b/arch/x86/boot/cpuflags.h 2016-07-01 10:42:07.313790740 -0700 @@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ struct cpu_features { int level; /* Family, or 64 for x86-64 */ + int family; /* Family, always */ int model; u32 flags[NCAPINTS]; }; _ -- To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in the body to majordomo@xxxxxxxxx. 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