Re: [PATCH] i8k: Ignore temperature sensors which report invalid values

From: Guenter Roeck
Date: Wed Oct 22 2014 - 13:10:22 EST


On Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 06:35:53PM +0200, Pali Rohár wrote:
> On Wednesday 22 October 2014 18:19:47 Guenter Roeck wrote:
> > On Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 02:29:06PM +0200, Pali Rohár wrote:
> > > On Tuesday 21 October 2014 06:27:23 Guenter Roeck wrote:
> > > > On 10/20/2014 09:46 AM, Pali Rohár wrote:
> > > > > Ok, I will describe my problem. Guenter, maybe you can
> > > > > find another solution/fix for it.
> > > > >
> > > > > Calling i8k_get_temp(3) on my laptop without
> > > > > I8K_TEMPERATURE_BUG always returns value 193 (which is
> > > > > above I8K_MAX_TEMP).
> > > > >
> > > > > When I8K_TEMPERATURE_BUG is enabled (by default) then
> > > > > i8k_get_temp(3) returns value from prev[3] and store new
> > > > > value I8K_TEMPERATURE_BUG to prev[3]. Value in prev[3]
> > > > > is initialized to 0.
> > > > >
> > > > > What I want to achieve is: when i8k_get_temp() for
> > > > > particular sensor id always returns invalid value (>
> > > > > I8K_MAX_TEMP) then we should totally ignore sensor with
> > > > > that id and do not export it via hwmon.
> > > > >
> > > > > My solution is: initialize prev[id] to I8K_MAX_TEMP, so
> > > > > on invalid data first call to i8k_get_temp(id) returns
> > > > > I8K_MAX_TEMP. Then in i8k_init_hwmon check if value is
> > > > > < I8K_MAX_TEMP and if not ignore sensor id.
> > > > >
> > > > > Guenter, it is clear now? Are you ok that we should
> > > > > ignore sensor if always report value above
> > > > > I8K_MAX_TEMP? If you do not like my solution/patch for
> > > > > it, can you specify how other can it be fixed?
> > > >
> > > > I still don't see the point in initializing prev[].
> > >
> > > Now prev[] is initialized to 0. It means that first call
> > > i8k_get_temp() (with sensor id which return value >
> > > I8K_MAX_TEMP) returns 0. Second and other calls returns
> > > I8K_MAX_TEMP.
> > >
> > > So point is to return same value for first and other calls.
> >
> > Yes, I realized that after I sent my previous mail.
> >
> > > > Yes, I am ok with ignoring sensor values if the reported
> > > > temperature is above I8K_MAX_TEMP. I am just not sure if
> > > > we should check against I8K_MAX_TEMP or against, say,
> > > > 192. Reason is that we do know that the sensor can
> > > > erroneously return 0x99 on some systems once in a while.
> > > > We would not want to ignore those sensors just because
> > > > they happen to report 0x99 during initialization.
> > > >
> > > > So maybe make it
> > > >
> > > > if (err >= 0 && err < 192)
> > > >
> > > > and add a note before the first if(), explaining that
> > > > higher values suggest that there is no sensor attached.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Guenter
> > >
> > > Right, now we need to decide which magic constant to use...
> > >
> > > And now I found another problem :-)
> > >
> > > On my laptop i8k_get_temp(3) not always return value 193. It
> > > is only when AMD graphics card is turned off. When card is
> > > on i8k_get_temp(3) returns same value as temperature hwmon
> > > part from radeon DRM driver.
> >
> > Can you turn the GPU on or off during runtime ?
> > That would make it really tricky to handle the situation.
> >
>
> Yes. New laptops with Nvidia Optimus or AMD PowerXpress or Enduro
> technology are designed to automatically turn off secondary GPU
> when is not in use. And nouveau/radeon drivers together with
> vga_switcheroo implements this dynamic power on/off.
>
> > > So it looks like that on my laptop i8k sensor with id 3
> > > reports GPU temperature.
> > >
> > > When card is turned off radeon driver reports -EINVAL for
> > > temperature hwmon sysnode.
> > >
> > > So now I think i8k could not ignore sensor totally as it can
> > > be mapped to some HW which can be dynamically turned on/off
> > > (like my graphics card).
> > >
> > > So what do you think about reporting -EINVAL instead
> > > I8K_MAX_TEMP when dell SMM returns value above
> > > I8K_MAX_TEMP?
> >
> > -EINVAL is supposed to mean "Invalid Argument", so it really
> > has ia different semantics. We could use -ENXIO, "No such
> > device or address", which seems more appropriate.
> >
>
> I prefer to use -EINVAL because other driver (radeon) is using it
> and userspace "sensors" programs handle EINVAL and show "N/A" in
> output instead reporting some error about reading value. If
> nothing else consistency (with other drivers) is my argument.
>
Ok, if sensors implements it that way then let's do it.

> > Overall, I think the entire error handling is broken and
> > should be replaced. One option would be to explicitly check
> > for 0x99 and, if detected, go to sleep for, say, 100ms and
> > try again. If it still fails, and for all other bad values,
> > return -ENXIO. Then the calling code can either return the
> > error to user space in the show function, or not install the
> > sensor in the probe function.
> >
> > Does that make sense ?
> >
>
> Yes, replacing error handling with retry call (after some sleep)
> is better then current code (which returns previous value or
> returns I8K_MAX_TEMP).
>
> But your solution not install the sensor if probe fails on bad
> value does not solve problem that i8k.ko is loading at time when
> GPU card is turned off.
>
Yes, the dynamics in that situation makes it a bit difficult to
handle the situation.

> I think current check for installing sensor (err < 0) is enough
> and when invalid value (> I8K_MAX_TEMP) is returned just do not
> show this value for userspace in hwmon sysnode.
>
Ok with me, and agreed.

Thanks,
Guenter
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