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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2012-01-08 13:10:57 -0800
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2012-01-08 13:10:57 -0800
commiteb59c505f8a5906ad2e053d14fab50eb8574fd6f (patch)
treec6e875adc12b481b916e847e8f80b8881a0fb02c /Documentation/power/freezing-of-tasks.txt
parent1619ed8f60959829d070d8f39cd2f8ca0e7135ce (diff)
parentc233523b3d392e530033a7587d7970dc62a02361 (diff)
Merge branch 'pm-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/rafael/linux-pm
* 'pm-for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/rafael/linux-pm: (76 commits) PM / Hibernate: Implement compat_ioctl for /dev/snapshot PM / Freezer: fix return value of freezable_schedule_timeout_killable() PM / shmobile: Allow the A4R domain to be turned off at run time PM / input / touchscreen: Make st1232 use device PM QoS constraints PM / QoS: Introduce dev_pm_qos_add_ancestor_request() PM / shmobile: Remove the stay_on flag from SH7372's PM domains PM / shmobile: Don't include SH7372's INTCS in syscore suspend/resume PM / shmobile: Add support for the sh7372 A4S power domain / sleep mode PM: Drop generic_subsys_pm_ops PM / Sleep: Remove forward-only callbacks from AMBA bus type PM / Sleep: Remove forward-only callbacks from platform bus type PM: Run the driver callback directly if the subsystem one is not there PM / Sleep: Make pm_op() and pm_noirq_op() return callback pointers PM/Devfreq: Add Exynos4-bus device DVFS driver for Exynos4210/4212/4412. PM / Sleep: Merge internal functions in generic_ops.c PM / Sleep: Simplify generic system suspend callbacks PM / Hibernate: Remove deprecated hibernation snapshot ioctls PM / Sleep: Fix freezer failures due to racy usermodehelper_is_disabled() ARM: S3C64XX: Implement basic power domain support PM / shmobile: Use common always on power domain governor ... Fix up trivial conflict in fs/xfs/xfs_buf.c due to removal of unused XBT_FORCE_SLEEP bit
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/power/freezing-of-tasks.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/power/freezing-of-tasks.txt39
1 files changed, 32 insertions, 7 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/power/freezing-of-tasks.txt b/Documentation/power/freezing-of-tasks.txt
index 316c2ba187f4..6ccb68f68da6 100644
--- a/Documentation/power/freezing-of-tasks.txt
+++ b/Documentation/power/freezing-of-tasks.txt
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ freeze_processes() (defined in kernel/power/process.c) is called. It executes
try_to_freeze_tasks() that sets TIF_FREEZE for all of the freezable tasks and
either wakes them up, if they are kernel threads, or sends fake signals to them,
if they are user space processes. A task that has TIF_FREEZE set, should react
-to it by calling the function called refrigerator() (defined in
+to it by calling the function called __refrigerator() (defined in
kernel/freezer.c), which sets the task's PF_FROZEN flag, changes its state
to TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE and makes it loop until PF_FROZEN is cleared for it.
Then, we say that the task is 'frozen' and therefore the set of functions
@@ -29,10 +29,10 @@ handling this mechanism is referred to as 'the freezer' (these functions are
defined in kernel/power/process.c, kernel/freezer.c & include/linux/freezer.h).
User space processes are generally frozen before kernel threads.
-It is not recommended to call refrigerator() directly. Instead, it is
-recommended to use the try_to_freeze() function (defined in
-include/linux/freezer.h), that checks the task's TIF_FREEZE flag and makes the
-task enter refrigerator() if the flag is set.
+__refrigerator() must not be called directly. Instead, use the
+try_to_freeze() function (defined in include/linux/freezer.h), that checks
+the task's TIF_FREEZE flag and makes the task enter __refrigerator() if the
+flag is set.
For user space processes try_to_freeze() is called automatically from the
signal-handling code, but the freezable kernel threads need to call it
@@ -61,13 +61,13 @@ wait_event_freezable() and wait_event_freezable_timeout() macros.
After the system memory state has been restored from a hibernation image and
devices have been reinitialized, the function thaw_processes() is called in
order to clear the PF_FROZEN flag for each frozen task. Then, the tasks that
-have been frozen leave refrigerator() and continue running.
+have been frozen leave __refrigerator() and continue running.
III. Which kernel threads are freezable?
Kernel threads are not freezable by default. However, a kernel thread may clear
PF_NOFREEZE for itself by calling set_freezable() (the resetting of PF_NOFREEZE
-directly is strongly discouraged). From this point it is regarded as freezable
+directly is not allowed). From this point it is regarded as freezable
and must call try_to_freeze() in a suitable place.
IV. Why do we do that?
@@ -176,3 +176,28 @@ tasks, since it generally exists anyway.
A driver must have all firmwares it may need in RAM before suspend() is called.
If keeping them is not practical, for example due to their size, they must be
requested early enough using the suspend notifier API described in notifiers.txt.
+
+VI. Are there any precautions to be taken to prevent freezing failures?
+
+Yes, there are.
+
+First of all, grabbing the 'pm_mutex' lock to mutually exclude a piece of code
+from system-wide sleep such as suspend/hibernation is not encouraged.
+If possible, that piece of code must instead hook onto the suspend/hibernation
+notifiers to achieve mutual exclusion. Look at the CPU-Hotplug code
+(kernel/cpu.c) for an example.
+
+However, if that is not feasible, and grabbing 'pm_mutex' is deemed necessary,
+it is strongly discouraged to directly call mutex_[un]lock(&pm_mutex) since
+that could lead to freezing failures, because if the suspend/hibernate code
+successfully acquired the 'pm_mutex' lock, and hence that other entity failed
+to acquire the lock, then that task would get blocked in TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE
+state. As a consequence, the freezer would not be able to freeze that task,
+leading to freezing failure.
+
+However, the [un]lock_system_sleep() APIs are safe to use in this scenario,
+since they ask the freezer to skip freezing this task, since it is anyway
+"frozen enough" as it is blocked on 'pm_mutex', which will be released
+only after the entire suspend/hibernation sequence is complete.
+So, to summarize, use [un]lock_system_sleep() instead of directly using
+mutex_[un]lock(&pm_mutex). That would prevent freezing failures.