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Message-ID: <3e206be0-3ef4-468f-b7e7-7bc03848b0d0@infradead.org>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2026 11:35:37 -0700
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Subject: Re: [RFC v2 PATCH] reserve_mem: add support for static memory
To: Shyam Saini <shyamsaini@linux.microsoft.com>, linux-mm@kvack.org,
 linux-doc@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Cc: rppt@kernel.org, akpm@linux-foundation.org,
 tgopinath@linux.microsoft.com, bboscaccy@linux.microsoft.com,
 kees@kernel.org, tony.luck@intel.com, gpiccoli@igalia.com, bp@alien8.de,
 peterz@infradead.org, feng.tang@linux.alibaba.com,
 dapeng1.mi@linux.intel.com, elver@google.com, enelsonmoore@gmail.com,
 kuba@kernel.org, lirongqing@baidu.com, ebiggers@kernel.org
References: <20260619062331.348789-1-shyamsaini@linux.microsoft.com>
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From: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@infradead.org>
In-Reply-To: <20260619062331.348789-1-shyamsaini@linux.microsoft.com>
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Hi,

On 6/18/26 11:23 PM, Shyam Saini wrote:
> reserve_mem relies on dynamic memory allocation, this limits the
> usecase where memory is required to be preserved across the boots.
> Eg: ramoops memory reservation on ACPI platforms
> 
> So add support to pass a pre-determined static address and reserve
> memory at a specified location. This enables use case like ramoops
> on ACPI platforms to reliably access ramoops region with previous
> boot logs.
> 
> Also skip the parsing of <align> when static address is passed.
> 
> Example syntax for static address
>  reserve_mem=4M@0x1E0000000:oops
> 
> Signed-off-by: Shyam Saini <shyamsaini@linux.microsoft.com>
> ---
> v1: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/0eaf3be2-5121-48b7-aeed-196405c0a480@infradead.org/
> v2: Fix code logic and incorporate Randy's suggestion

OK, you fixed a few typos.
There are some bigger things that you seem to have ignored.

> ---
>  .../admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt         | 15 ++++++
>  mm/memblock.c                                 | 47 +++++++++++++------
>  2 files changed, 47 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
> index b5493a7f8f228..7e0baca564b97 100644
> --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
> @@ -6563,6 +6563,21 @@ Kernel parameters
>  
>  			reserve_mem=12M:4096:oops ramoops.mem_name=oops
>  
> +	reserve_mem=	[RAM]

[RAM] means "RAM disk support is enabled."
Is that the case here?  Is "reserve_mem=" only for use in case
RAM disk support is enabled?

ISTM that you need a new designator instead of RAM...
or overload the use of RAM by adding more info near the top of
Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt.


> +			Format: nn[KMG]:<@offset>:<label>
> +			Reserve physical memory at predetermined location and label it with
> +			a name that other subsystems can use to access it. This is typically
> +			used for systems that do not wipe the RAM, and this command
> +			line will try to reserve the same physical memory on
> +			soft reboots. Note, it is guaranteed to be the same
> +			location unless some other early allocation, e.g.: crashkernel=256M
> +                        (without static address) is reserved or overlaps this region.
> +
> +			The format is size:offset:label for example, to request
> +			4 megabytes for ramoops at 0x1E0000000:
> +
> +			reserve_mem=4M@0x1E0000000:oops ramoops.mem_name=oops
> +
>  	reservetop=	[X86-32,EARLY]
>  			Format: nn[KMG]
>  			Reserves a hole at the top of the kernel virtual
> diff --git a/mm/memblock.c b/mm/memblock.c
> index 6349c48154f4b..c76cefa0a8a83 100644
> --- a/mm/memblock.c
> +++ b/mm/memblock.c
> @@ -2721,6 +2721,7 @@ static int __init reserve_mem(char *p)
>  	char *name;
>  	char *oldp;
>  	int len;
> +	bool addr_is_static = false;
>  
>  	if (!p)
>  		goto err_param;
> @@ -2736,19 +2737,27 @@ static int __init reserve_mem(char *p)
>  	if (!size || p == oldp)
>  		goto err_param;
>  
> -	if (*p != ':')
> -		goto err_param;
> +	/* parse the static memory address */
> +	if (*p == '@') {
> +		start = memparse(p+1, &p);
> +		addr_is_static = true;
> +	}
>  
> -	align = memparse(p+1, &p);
>  	if (*p != ':')
>  		goto err_param;
>  
> -	/*
> -	 * memblock_phys_alloc() doesn't like a zero size align,
> -	 * but it is OK for this command to have it.
> -	 */
> -	if (align < SMP_CACHE_BYTES)
> -		align = SMP_CACHE_BYTES;
> +	if (!addr_is_static) {
> +		align = memparse(p+1, &p);
> +		if (*p != ':')
> +			goto err_param;
> +
> +		/*
> +		 * memblock_phys_alloc() doesn't like a zero size align,
> +		 * but it is OK for this command to have it.
> +		 */
> +		if (align < SMP_CACHE_BYTES)
> +			align = SMP_CACHE_BYTES;
> +	}
>  
>  	name = p + 1;
>  	len = strlen(name);
> @@ -2772,14 +2781,22 @@ static int __init reserve_mem(char *p)
>  	}
>  
>  	/* Pick previous allocations up from KHO if available */
> -	if (reserve_mem_kho_revive(name, size, align))
> +	if (!addr_is_static && reserve_mem_kho_revive(name, size, align))
>  		return 1;
>  
> -	/* TODO: Allocation must be outside of scratch region */
> -	start = memblock_phys_alloc(size, align);
> -	if (!start) {
> -		pr_err("reserve_mem: memblock allocation failed\n");
> -		return -ENOMEM;

		return 1;

> +	if (addr_is_static) {
> +		if (memblock_reserve(start, size)) {
> +			pr_err("reserve_mem: memblock reservation failed\n");
> +			return -ENOMEM;

			return 1;

> +		}
> +
> +	} else {
> +		/* TODO: Allocation must be outside of scratch region */
> +		start = memblock_phys_alloc(size, align);
> +		if (!start) {
> +			pr_err("reserve_mem: memblock allocation failed\n");
> +			return -ENOMEM;

			return 1;

> +		}
>  	}
>  
>  	reserved_mem_add(start, size, name);


__setup() functions return 1 for "yes, I recognized this string/option
and attempted to handle it" or 0 for "This string/option is meaningless."
There is no "return -Eerror".
If you need that, you could consider using early_param() [see
<linux/init.h>].

-- 
~Randy