Subject: Re: [PATCH] i386: Fix a couple busy loops in mach_wakecpu.h:wait_for_init_deassert()

From: Andi Kleen <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:07:25 +0200

On Friday 24 August 2007 13:59:32 Denys Vlasenko wrote:
> On Thursday 16 August 2007 01:39, Satyam Sharma wrote:
> >
> >  static inline void wait_for_init_deassert(atomic_t *deassert)
> >  {
> > -	while (!atomic_read(deassert));
> > +	while (!atomic_read(deassert))
> > +		cpu_relax();
> >  	return;
> >  }
> 
> For less-than-briliant people like me, it's totally non-obvious that
> cpu_relax() is needed for correctness here, not just to make P4 happy.

I find it also non obvious. It would be really better to have a barrier
or equivalent (volatile or variable clobber) in the atomic_read()
 
> IOW: "atomic_read" name quite unambiguously means "I will read
> this variable from main memory". Which is not true and creates
> potential for confusion and bugs.

Agreed.

-Andi