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. -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe stable" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html