Re: [PATCH] watchdog: allow WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL=y

[Guenter Roeck <linux@roeck-us.net>]

On 10/17/26 08:59, Dmitry Voytik wrote:
> Hi Guenter,
> 
> Thanks for reviewing the patch!
> 
> On Fri, Oct 16, 2026 at 8:21 PM Guenter Roeck <linux@roeck-us.net> wrote:
>>
>> On 10/4/26 14:37, Dmitry Voytik wrote:
>>> Fix the issue when WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL can't be set to =y,
>>> and always is =m.
>>>
>>> The issues can be reproduced with the following steps:
>>>        make mrproper
>>>        make defconfig
>>>        ./scripts/config \
>>>          -e WATCHDOG_CORE \
>>>          -e WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV \
>>>          -e WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL \
>>>          --refresh
>>>        make olddefconfig
>>>        make mod2yesconfig
>>>
>>>        grep '=m$' .config
>>> returns only CONFIG_WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL as module:
>>>        CONFIG_WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL=m
>>>
>>> "make menuconfig" doesn't let it to be switched from =m to =y either.
>>>
>>
>> This does not explain what the problem actually is that is supposed
>> to be solved with this patch. Since this is just a selector used to
>> enable other configurations, and the configuration option does not
>> result in any packages built, "WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL can't be
>> set to =y" on its own is not a problem.
> 
> The issue is that
>    make mod2yesconfig
> doesn't work as expected. Help says "Change answers from mod to yes if
> possible".

This does say "If possible".

> I might have misunderstood it, but I thought all configs should be =y
> for this make target.
> 

$ make allmodconfig
$ make mod2yesconfig
$ grep =m .config | wc -l
51

Not really.

> Maybe a dumb question, but why does only this config have " default m"
> and others use
> "default WATCHDOG_CORE"? Does it have some special meaning with "default m"?
> 

Again, this configuration option is only used to set the (default) value
for the watchdog pretimeout governor, and the "=m" states that the default
should be WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_PANIC=m, not =WATCHDOG_CORE.

> I want to have no modules and still not disable the module load
> ability, and it annoys me
> that some configs don't allow "=y" :-) otherwise when I do
>   grep '=m$' .config
> I need to remember that CONFIG_WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL is a special case.
> 
> FYI, for Arch Linux based config, only
> CONFIG_WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL pops up with =m.
> A fix for the same issue with CONFIG_TDX_HOST_SERVICES seems to be accepted:
> https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/as04AoNxjzlvh-K8@thinkstation/
You are comparing apples with oranges. That commit states:

   Fix the issue when the driver always gets compiled as a module.

There is no module that can or will be compiled based on
WATCHDOG_PRETIMEOUT_GOV_SEL.

Guenter