I am talking to myself ;->. Dan (et al), I inspected deeper and I *think* I see the culprit in sas_deform_port(). Could the problem be that the code should have been refactored to: + BUG_ON(!phy->port); sas_port_delete_phy(phy->port, phy->phy); - if (phy->port->num_phys == 0) + if (phy->port->num_phys == 0) { sas_port_delete(phy->port); - phy->port = NULL; + phy->port = NULL; + } And also fixed up is sas_ex_discover_end_dev() at out_err (this is on soft territory, need to dig into sas_port_delete): out_free: - sas_port_delete(phy->port); + if (phy->port->num_phys == 0) { + sas_port_delete(phy->port); out_err: - phy->port = NULL; + phy->port = NULL; + } And finally in sas_prot.c at sas_deform_port() (simplified, I still view this as split-brained though): if (port->num_phys == 1) { if (dev && gone) dev->gone = 1; sas_unregister_domain_devices(port); sas_port_delete(port->port); port->port = NULL; - } else + } else { sas_port_delete_phy(port->port, phy->phy); + if (si->dft->lldd_port_deformed) + si->dfp->lldd_port_deformed(phy); + return; + } if (si->dft->lldd_port_deformed) si->dft->lldd_port_deformed(phy); spin_lock_irqsave(&sas_ha->phy_port_lock, flags); spin_lock(&port->phy_list_lock); list_del_init(&phy->port_phy_el); phy->port = NULL; port->num_phys--; port->phy_mask &= ~(1U << phy->id); if (port->num_phys == 0) { INIT_LIST_HEAD(&port->phy_list); memset(port->sas_addr, 0, SAS_ADDR_SIZE); memset(port->attached_sas_addr, 0, SAS_ADDR_SIZE); port->class = 0; port->iproto = 0; port->tproto = 0; port->oob_mode = 0; port->phy_mask = 0; } spin_unlock(&port->phy_list_lock); spin_unlock_irqrestore(&sas_ha->phy_port_lock, flags); return; The way I see it, sas_deform_port() is the culprit that is clearing out phy->port when the num_phys is equal to two, falling through and decrementing the count one more time. Sincerely -- Mark Salyzyn -----Original Message----- From: linux-scsi-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:linux-scsi-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mark Salyzyn Sent: Monday, October 03, 2011 9:08 AM To: Dan Williams; Jack Wang Cc: linux-scsi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Darrick Wong; Xiangliang Yu; Luben Tuikov; James Bottomley Subject: RE: [PATCH] [SCSI] libsas panic when single phy disabled on a wide port 100% agree with Dan! In fact it is my fault for not digging deeper when I had the duplication relatively close at hand (but production pressures had me move on, in my defense). I definitely attacked the symptom. The patch is a piece of hardening, which can remain as paranoia after the root cause has properly been discovered (turned into a BUG() likely). I have lost the resources to duplicate this problem at the moment. Sincerely -- Mark Salyzyn -----Original Message----- From: dan.j.williams@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:dan.j.williams@xxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dan Williams Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 9:43 PM To: Jack Wang Cc: Mark Salyzyn; linux-scsi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Darrick Wong; Xiangliang Yu; Luben Tuikov; James Bottomley Subject: Re: [PATCH] [SCSI] libsas panic when single phy disabled on a wide port On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 7:21 PM, Jack Wang <jack_wang@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I can reproduce this bug, so I'm ok to get this fix in. > Mark admits this is a band aid. I'd like to understand the root cause of why the port is NULL here. ______________________________________________________________________ This email may contain privileged or confidential information, which should only be used for the purpose for which it was sent by Xyratex. No further rights or licenses are granted to use such information. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender by return and delete it. You may not use, copy, disclose or rely on the information contained in it. Internet email is susceptible to data corruption, interception and unauthorised amendment for which Xyratex does not accept liability. While we have taken reasonable precautions to ensure that this email is free of viruses, Xyratex does not accept liability for the presence of any computer viruses in this email, nor for any losses caused as a result of viruses. Xyratex Technology Limited (03134912), Registered in England & Wales, Registered Office, Langstone Road, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 1SA. The Xyratex group of companies also includes, Xyratex Ltd, registered in Bermuda, Xyratex International Inc, registered in California, Xyratex (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd registered in Malaysia, Xyratex Technology (Wuxi) Co Ltd registered in The People's Republic of China and Xyratex Japan Limited registered in Japan. ______________________________________________________________________ -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-scsi" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html