Re: [PATCH 2/2] perf/x86/intel: Fix PMI handling for Intel PT

From: Peter Zijlstra
Date: Thu Jun 11 2015 - 10:00:50 EST


On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 03:13:57PM +0300, Alexander Shishkin wrote:
> @@ -1426,7 +1426,23 @@ perf_event_nmi_handler(unsigned int cmd, struct pt_regs *regs)
> u64 finish_clock;
> int ret;
>
> - if (!atomic_read(&active_events))
> + /*
> + * Intel PT is a separate PMUs, it doesn't increment active_events
> + * nor does it use resources associated with it, such as DS area.
> + * However, it still uses the same PMI handler, so here we need
> + * to make sure to call it *also* if any PT events are present.
> + *
> + * BTS events currently increment active_events implicitly through
> + * x86_reserve_hardware(), where it acts as DS area reference
> + * counter, so no need to check x86_lbr_exclusive_bts counter here;
> + * otherwise we'd have to do the same for BTS.
> + *
> + * Theoretically, they could be made into separate PMI handlers, but
> + * that can create additional challenges as PT uses the same PMI status
> + * register as x86_pmu.
> + */
> + if (!atomic_read(&active_events) &&
> + !atomic_read(&x86_pmu.lbr_exclusive[x86_lbr_exclusive_pt]))
> return NMI_DONE;
>

Urgh, sad. That's two cache misses instead of one. Cant we somehow keep
that a single value to read?
--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/