Hi,
On Fri, Jan 30, 2015 at 02:59:57PM +0000, James Hogan wrote:
> On 30/01/15 12:47, Maciej W. Rozycki wrote:
> > On Fri, 30 Jan 2015, James Hogan wrote:
> >
> >>> Hmm, why can a call to `printk' cause a TLB miss, what's so special about
> >>> this function? Does it use kernel mapped addresses for any purpose such
> >>> as `vmalloc'?
> >>
> >> It would be the fact netconsole (or whatever other console is in use) is
> >> built as a kernel module, memory for which is allocated from the vmalloc
> >> area.
> >
> > Ah, I see, thanks for enlightening me. But in that case wouldn't it be
> > possible to postpone console output from `printk' until it is safe to
> > access the device? In a manner similar to how for example we handle calls
> > to `printk' made from the hardirq context. That would make things less
> > fragile.
>
> Hmm, kernel/printk/printk.c does have:
>
> static inline int can_use_console(unsigned int cpu)
> {
> return cpu_online(cpu) || have_callable_console();
> }
>
> which should prevent it dumping printk buffer to console. CPU shouldn't
> be marked online that early, which suggests that the console has the
> CON_ANYTIME flag set, which it probably shouldn't if it depends on
> module code. call_console_drivers() seems to ensure the CPU is online or
> has CON_ANYTIME before calling the console write callback.
>
> A quick glance and I can't see any evidence of netconsole being able to
> get CON_ANYTIME.
It does not set the flag. But flags are kept in module's static data,
so the original problem stays.
A.
