On Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:20:29 +0800 Wu Fengguang <fengguang.wu@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Pass __GFP_NORETRY|__GFP_NOWARN for readahead page allocations. > > readahead page allocations are completely optional. They are OK to > fail and in particular shall not trigger OOM on themselves. I have distinct recollections of trying this many years ago, finding that it caused problems then deciding not to do it. But I can't find an email trail and I don't remember the reasons :( If the system is so stressed for memory that the oom-killer might get involved then the readahead pages may well be getting reclaimed before the application actually gets to use them. But that's just an aside. Ho hum. The patch *seems* good (as it did 5-10 years ago ;)) but there may be surprising side-effects which could be exposed under heavy testing. Testing which I'm sure hasn't been performed... -- To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in the body to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxx For more info on Linux MM, see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ . Fight unfair telecom internet charges in Canada: sign http://stopthemeter.ca/ Don't email: <a href=mailto:"dont@xxxxxxxxx";> email@xxxxxxxxx </a>