The patch titled
Subject: mm: vmscan: account for free pages to prevent infinite Loop in throttle_direct_reclaim()
has been added to the -mm mm-hotfixes-unstable branch. Its filename is
mm-vmscan-account-for-free-pages-to-prevent-infinite-loop-in-throttle_direct_reclaim.patch
This patch will shortly appear at
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/akpm/25-new.git/tree/patches/mm-vmscan-account-for-free-pages-to-prevent-infinite-loop-in-throttle_direct_reclaim.patch
This patch will later appear in the mm-hotfixes-unstable branch at
git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/akpm/mm
Before you just go and hit "reply", please:
a) Consider who else should be cc'ed
b) Prefer to cc a suitable mailing list as well
c) Ideally: find the original patch on the mailing list and do a
reply-to-all to that, adding suitable additional cc's
*** Remember to use Documentation/process/submit-checklist.rst when testing your code ***
The -mm tree is included into linux-next via the mm-everything
branch at git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/akpm/mm
and is updated there every 2-3 working days
------------------------------------------------------
From: Seiji Nishikawa <snishika@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: mm: vmscan: account for free pages to prevent infinite Loop in throttle_direct_reclaim()
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2024 01:12:34 +0900
The task sometimes continues looping in throttle_direct_reclaim() because
allow_direct_reclaim(pgdat) keeps returning false.
#0 [ffff80002cb6f8d0] __switch_to at ffff8000080095ac
#1 [ffff80002cb6f900] __schedule at ffff800008abbd1c
#2 [ffff80002cb6f990] schedule at ffff800008abc50c
#3 [ffff80002cb6f9b0] throttle_direct_reclaim at ffff800008273550
#4 [ffff80002cb6fa20] try_to_free_pages at ffff800008277b68
#5 [ffff80002cb6fae0] __alloc_pages_nodemask at ffff8000082c4660
#6 [ffff80002cb6fc50] alloc_pages_vma at ffff8000082e4a98
#7 [ffff80002cb6fca0] do_anonymous_page at ffff80000829f5a8
#8 [ffff80002cb6fce0] __handle_mm_fault at ffff8000082a5974
#9 [ffff80002cb6fd90] handle_mm_fault at ffff8000082a5bd4
At this point, the pgdat contains the following two zones:
NODE: 4 ZONE: 0 ADDR: ffff00817fffe540 NAME: "DMA32"
SIZE: 20480 MIN/LOW/HIGH: 11/28/45
VM_STAT:
NR_FREE_PAGES: 359
NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_ANON: 18813
NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_ANON: 0
NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_FILE: 50
NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_FILE: 0
NR_ZONE_UNEVICTABLE: 0
NR_ZONE_WRITE_PENDING: 0
NR_MLOCK: 0
NR_BOUNCE: 0
NR_ZSPAGES: 0
NR_FREE_CMA_PAGES: 0
NODE: 4 ZONE: 1 ADDR: ffff00817fffec00 NAME: "Normal"
SIZE: 8454144 PRESENT: 98304 MIN/LOW/HIGH: 68/166/264
VM_STAT:
NR_FREE_PAGES: 146
NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_ANON: 94668
NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_ANON: 3
NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_FILE: 735
NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_FILE: 78
NR_ZONE_UNEVICTABLE: 0
NR_ZONE_WRITE_PENDING: 0
NR_MLOCK: 0
NR_BOUNCE: 0
NR_ZSPAGES: 0
NR_FREE_CMA_PAGES: 0
In allow_direct_reclaim(), while processing ZONE_DMA32, the sum of
inactive/active file-backed pages calculated in zone_reclaimable_pages()
based on the result of zone_page_state_snapshot() is zero.
Additionally, since this system lacks swap, the calculation of inactive/
active anonymous pages is skipped.
crash> p nr_swap_pages
nr_swap_pages = $1937 = {
counter = 0
}
As a result, ZONE_DMA32 is deemed unreclaimable and skipped, moving on to
the processing of the next zone, ZONE_NORMAL, despite ZONE_DMA32 having
free pages significantly exceeding the high watermark.
The problem is that the pgdat->kswapd_failures hasn't been incremented.
crash> px ((struct pglist_data *) 0xffff00817fffe540)->kswapd_failures
$1935 = 0x0
This is because the node deemed balanced. The node balancing logic in
balance_pgdat() evaluates all zones collectively. If one or more zones
(e.g., ZONE_DMA32) have enough free pages to meet their watermarks, the
entire node is deemed balanced. This causes balance_pgdat() to exit early
before incrementing the kswapd_failures, as it considers the overall
memory state acceptable, even though some zones (like ZONE_NORMAL) remain
under significant pressure.
The patch ensures that zone_reclaimable_pages() includes free pages
(NR_FREE_PAGES) in its calculation when no other reclaimable pages are
available (e.g., file-backed or anonymous pages). This change prevents
zones like ZONE_DMA32, which have sufficient free pages, from being
mistakenly deemed unreclaimable. By doing so, the patch ensures proper
node balancing, avoids masking pressure on other zones like ZONE_NORMAL,
and prevents infinite loops in throttle_direct_reclaim() caused by
allow_direct_reclaim(pgdat) repeatedly returning false.
The kernel hangs due to a task stuck in throttle_direct_reclaim(), caused
by a node being incorrectly deemed balanced despite pressure in certain
zones, such as ZONE_NORMAL. This issue arises from
zone_reclaimable_pages() returning 0 for zones without reclaimable file-
backed or anonymous pages, causing zones like ZONE_DMA32 with sufficient
free pages to be skipped.
The lack of swap or reclaimable pages results in ZONE_DMA32 being ignored
during reclaim, masking pressure in other zones. Consequently,
pgdat->kswapd_failures remains 0 in balance_pgdat(), preventing fallback
mechanisms in allow_direct_reclaim() from being triggered, leading to an
infinite loop in throttle_direct_reclaim().
This patch modifies zone_reclaimable_pages() to account for free pages
(NR_FREE_PAGES) when no other reclaimable pages exist. This ensures zones
with sufficient free pages are not skipped, enabling proper balancing and
reclaim behavior.
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20241130164346.436469-1-snishika@xxxxxxxxxx
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20241130161236.433747-2-snishika@xxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Seiji Nishikawa <snishika@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Mel Gorman <mgorman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
mm/vmscan.c | 9 ++++++++-
1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
--- a/mm/vmscan.c~mm-vmscan-account-for-free-pages-to-prevent-infinite-loop-in-throttle_direct_reclaim
+++ a/mm/vmscan.c
@@ -374,7 +374,14 @@ unsigned long zone_reclaimable_pages(str
if (can_reclaim_anon_pages(NULL, zone_to_nid(zone), NULL))
nr += zone_page_state_snapshot(zone, NR_ZONE_INACTIVE_ANON) +
zone_page_state_snapshot(zone, NR_ZONE_ACTIVE_ANON);
-
+ /*
+ * If there are no reclaimable file-backed or anonymous pages,
+ * ensure zones with sufficient free pages are not skipped.
+ * This prevents zones like DMA32 from being ignored in reclaim
+ * scenarios where they can still help alleviate memory pressure.
+ */
+ if (nr == 0)
+ nr = zone_page_state_snapshot(zone, NR_FREE_PAGES);
return nr;
}
_
Patches currently in -mm which might be from snishika@xxxxxxxxxx are
mm-vmscan-ensure-kswapd-is-woken-up-if-the-wait-queue-is-active.patch
mm-vmscan-account-for-free-pages-to-prevent-infinite-loop-in-throttle_direct_reclaim.patch
