On 10.01.20 18:33, Dan Williams wrote: > On Fri, Jan 10, 2020 at 9:29 AM David Hildenbrand <david@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > [..] >>> So then the comment is actively misleading for that case. I would >>> expect an explicit _unlocked path for that case with a comment about >>> why it's special. Is there already a comment to that effect somewhere? >>> >> >> __add_memory() - the locked variant - is called from the same ACPI location >> either locked or unlocked. I added a comment back then after a longe >> discussion with Michal: >> >> drivers/acpi/scan.c: >> /* >> * Although we call __add_memory() that is documented to require the >> * device_hotplug_lock, it is not necessary here because this is an >> * early code when userspace or any other code path cannot trigger >> * hotplug/hotunplug operations. >> */ >> >> >> It really is a special case, though. > > That's a large comment block when we could have just taken the lock. > There's probably many other code paths in the kernel where some locks > are not necessary before userspace is up, but the code takes the lock > anyway to minimize the code maintenance burden. Is there really a > compelling reason to be clever here? It was a lengthy discussion back then and I was sharing your opinion. I even had a patch ready to enforce that we are holding the lock (that's how I identified that specific case in the first place). -- Thanks, David / dhildenb