Subject: Re: [PATCH net v3] igb: remove napi_synchronize() in igb_down()

From: Maciej Fijalkowski <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2026 10:29:29 +0100

On Thu, Mar 12, 2026 at 02:52:55PM +0100, Alex Dvoretsky wrote:
> When an AF_XDP zero-copy application terminates abruptly (e.g., kill -9),
> the XSK buffer pool is destroyed but NAPI polling continues.
> igb_clean_rx_irq_zc() repeatedly returns the full budget, preventing
> napi_complete_done() from clearing NAPI_STATE_SCHED.
> 
> igb_down() calls napi_synchronize() before napi_disable() for each queue
> vector. napi_synchronize() spins waiting for NAPI_STATE_SCHED to clear,
> which never happens. igb_down() blocks indefinitely, the TX watchdog
> fires, and the TX queue remains permanently stalled.
> 
> napi_disable() already handles this correctly: it sets NAPI_STATE_DISABLE.
> After a full-budget poll, __napi_poll() checks napi_disable_pending(). If
> set, it forces completion and clears NAPI_STATE_SCHED, breaking the loop
> that napi_synchronize() cannot.
> 
> napi_synchronize() was added in commit 41f149a285da ("igb: Fix possible
> panic caused by Rx traffic arrival while interface is down").
> napi_disable() provides stronger guarantees: it prevents further
> scheduling and waits for any active poll to exit.
> Other Intel drivers (ixgbe, ice, i40e) use napi_disable() without a
> preceding napi_synchronize() in their down paths.
> 
> Remove redundant napi_synchronize() call and reorder napi_disable()
> before igb_set_queue_napi() so the queue-to-NAPI mapping is only
> cleared after polling has fully stopped.
> 
> Fixes: 2c6196013f84 ("igb: Add AF_XDP zero-copy Rx support")
> Cc: [email-masked]
> Reviewed-by: Aleksandr Loktionov <[email-masked]>
> Signed-off-by: Alex Dvoretsky <[email-masked]>

Suggested-by: Maciej Fijalkowski <[email-masked]>
Reviewed-by: Maciej Fijalkowski <[email-masked]>

> ---
> Agreed, that looks cleaner — no reason to touch the NAPI plumbing while
> the poll could still be running.
> 
> v3:
>   - Reorder napi_disable() before igb_set_queue_napi() per Aleksandr
>     Loktionov's suggestion.
> 
> v2:
>   - Replaced 3-patch series with single napi_synchronize() removal,
>     per Maciej Fijalkowski's suggestion. napi_disable() handles the
>     stuck NAPI poll via NAPI_STATE_DISABLE, making the __IGB_DOWN
>     checks in igb_clean_rx_irq_zc() and igb_tx_timeout(), and the
>     transition guards in igb_xdp_setup(), all unnecessary.
>   - Tested on Intel I210 (igb) with AF_XDP zero-copy: full E2E
>     traffic suite, graceful shutdown, and 5x kill-9 stress cycles.
>     Zero tx_timeout events.
> 
>  drivers/net/ethernet/intel/igb/igb_main.c | 3 +--
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 2 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/igb/igb_main.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/igb/igb_main.c
> index 7c41e32256fa..0793842cb937 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/igb/igb_main.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/intel/igb/igb_main.c
> @@ -2203,9 +2203,8 @@ void igb_down(struct igb_adapter *adapter)
>  
>  	for (i = 0; i < adapter->num_q_vectors; i++) {
>  		if (adapter->q_vector[i]) {
> -			napi_synchronize(&adapter->q_vector[i]->napi);
> -			igb_set_queue_napi(adapter, i, NULL);
>  			napi_disable(&adapter->q_vector[i]->napi);
> +			igb_set_queue_napi(adapter, i, NULL);
>  		}
>  	}
>  
> -- 
> 2.51.0
>