Messages in this thread | | | Date | Mon, 14 Feb 2000 14:10:51 -0800 (PST) | From | Robert Dinse <> | Subject | Re: SMP spin_lock... |
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On Mon, 14 Feb 2000 moyer@mclinux.com wrote: > > ==> Regarding SMP spin_lock...; Robert Dinse <nanook@eskimo.com> adds: > > nanook> I wish there were an option to recover from spin_lock deadlock > nanook> conditions, when one times out, release the lock and get on with > nanook> life or something. Yes, I realize the potential for file or memory > nanook> corruption exists, but file corruption potential also exists when > nanook> data cached and not yet written to disk is lost due to the need to > nanook> hard-boot the machine when it hangs in spin_lock hell, and memory > nanook> corruption might crash the machine, well it's going to lock up and > nanook> die otherwise anyway. > > Well, I believe SGI has a lockmetering package out there, and it > can be modified to do spin lock timeouts quite easily. > Unfortunately, this adds a bit of overhead to the kernel. > > nanook> And if that can't be done, at the very least a panic and > nanook> reboot would be preferable to infinite hang. > > Exactly. You may want to look into a watchdog card, or even the > software watchdog timer that already exists in the kernel. > > Warmest Regards, > > Jeff Moyer > Mission Critical Linux > http://www.missioncriticallinux.com
On Sparc-32 at least; with Linux, neither the software watchdog nor the hardware seem to result in a reboot after spin_lock hell lock-up.
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